David A. Jerde

Dear POW Network,

I greatly appreciate your interest in upholding the honor of the US Navy SEAL Teams, and your search for the TRUTH. Before answering your questions I must make clear that I am a private individual, not affiliated with the US Dept. of Defense any government organization. Additionally, although I worked for/with the AuthentiSEAL organization for several years as an Investigator (and later as a Special Investigator dealing with the media), I am no longer affiliated with that group. That said, I assure you that my copy of the SEAL database is current and complete to the present date.

If the name you provided is spelled correctly, I do NOT find a listing in the SEAL database of successful SEAL training graduates for anyone named DAVID A. JERDE. In fact there is no one with the last name JERDE, or any variation thereof, listed in the SEAL database. I have also searched for possible alternate spellings and names with similar pronunciations but found none.

Any familiarity which the man might have exhibited with the SEAL training regimen or operational tactics might have been derived from a variety of sources. SEAL activities during the time frame he claims have been documented in a wide variety of books – some factual, and some fictional. There is, in fact, a recently published fictional book which describes Navy SEALs in combat action in the Falkland Islands . The book was published in May 2006, and the fictional story is set in the year 2011. You may visit this website for further information and a synopsis of the story - http://btobsearch.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&btob=Y&endeca=1&isbn=0061120731&itm=5.  Most probably any familiarity he has with SEAL actions or activities has been taken from such documents. If he truly served in the US armed forces, he may have been tasked with duties which placed him in proximity to SEALs and learned of their training and tactics through conversational interaction. There is also a slight possibility that the man might actually have qualified to participate in SEAL training, but subsequently failed to complete the program for some reason. This would certainly explain any familiarity he might exhibit with SEAL training or tactics. Please be aware that I do not have access to any records (official or unofficial) listing the names of individuals who reported for SEAL training, but who subsequently failed to complete the training program.

Unless he has undertaken the unlikely action of a legal name change (an action for which there would be court documentation) since his claimed attendance at BUD/S training, and based upon the information you have provided, I can state conclusively that DAVID A. JERDE has NEVER COMPLETED SEAL training, and he is not now, nor was he ever a Navy SEAL.

It is quite common for those making fraudulent SEAL claims to cite a “secret” training class, “special selection and skills which allowed them to bypass BUD/S training”, or “secret missions” as an explanation for the lack of military documentation to back up their stories. They also tend to claim their military records are “sealed” and cannot be accessed. I would caution you that despite anything the man might have said, there are NO secret SEALs. Before any classified operations may be undertaken, a man must first successfully complete the totally unclassified BUD/S Training program. No one gets to the SEAL Teams without completing this training; there are NO EXCEPTIONS! The graduates of that training program are listed in the SEAL database – an unclassified document which is nonetheless considered “highly sensitive” and therefore not available for general public circulation. There have been and will continue to be secret missions, but there are NO secret SEALs… we know them all.

When members of the Naval Special Warfare community meet others who claim similar service, but whom they do not recognize, there is a conversational exchange of information that establishes the bona fides of each to the other. There is no set formula for this exchange, nor for the information that is exchanged, but it ALWAYS takes place, and the REAL Naval Special Warfare members can ALWAYS spot a phony as a result of this exchange. I urge you (or those who may have contact with him) to ask Mr. JERDE three questions: 

(1) What was his BUD/S class number?

(2) Where did his training take place?

(3) When did he graduate from Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training?

The answers to those three questions may then be compared to hard, firm, comprehensive documentation to absolutely verify his claims. There are many other questions which could be asked to further establish the level of veracity or untruth regarding his claims, but those three questions are absolutes; the answers are totally UNCLASSIFIED, and every real SEAL will gladly provide that substantiating information upon request. If Mr. JERDE offers you any specifics which he claims answers these questions (or if he offers reasons why he cannot answer them), I would be very interested in learning about it.

Thank you again for your concern in this matter, and for your assistance in upholding the honor of the US Navy SEAL Teams. Should you require any further assistance in addressing Mr. JERDE’s false claims of being a US Navy SEAL, please contact me at your convenience. I have been called upon in the past to act as an expert witness regarding the SEAL Teams, SEAL training, and related matters, and to provide sworn/notarized testimony which was subsequently used in a court of low. While I am disabled and unable to travel long distances, I would be pleased to meet with court-appointed representatives and offer my sworn deposition in this matter, if such is desirable. Should verification of my own credentials as an expert witness in these matter be needed, please contact the Director of the Naval Special Warfare Archives; Mr. Robert D. Russell at archives@frii.com.

Very respectfully,

Steve Robinson
USN 1970-1978
SEAL Team ONE
Inshore Undersea Warfare Group ONE
UDT-SEAL Association
Special Operations Association
POW Network Advisory Board
Naval Special Warfare Archives - SOF Analyst/Contributing Journalist
Disabled American Veterans - Life Member
FORMER Special Investigator - SEAL Authentication Team
Author of the book NO GUTS, NO GLORY - Unmasking Navy SEAL Imposters

Larry W. Bailey
Captain , US Navy (Retired)

Chocowinity , NC 27817
e-mail: larrywb@cox.net

  July 11, 2006

To Whom It May Concern:

As former Commanding Officer of Naval Special Warfare Center, the training school for Navy SEALs, I was asked to do a records check concerning the SEAL claims of one David A. Jerde, of Elmo, MO.

I did a thorough check of the comprehensive database of every SEAL or UDT man who has gone through UDT/SEAL training since 1947, and there has been no one by the name of “Jerde” to graduate from that training.  In fact, there are only three men whose name even started with the letters “Jer…” to have graduated.  If he did not graduate from BUD/S, there is no way he could have been a SEAL.

I am informed that Mr. Jerde’s date of birth is 14 August 1955 .  If that is accurate, there is no way that he could have been in Viet Nam in 1967, as he apparently claims.  In fact, it is impossible for him to have been in Viet Nam as a SEAL combatant as late as 1972, because he would have been only seventeen years old at the time.  That did not leave enough time for him to have gone through BUD/S and the post-BUD/S airborne school and platoon operator training that was required for him to go to Viet Nam with a SEAL platoon.

I hope this is of assistance in any matter involving Mr. Jerde.  I can state unequivocally that he was never a Navy SEAL or UDT man.

Sincerely, 

Larry W. Bailey