grafton loola KENT

Mr. KENT was an enlisted man, reaching only pay grade E-2 (Seaman Apprentice). Raw recruits start out at pay grade E-1 (Recruit).

Mr. KENT entered the US Navy on 02 November 2006 in Jacksonville, Florida, and attended Basic Training ("boot camp") at the Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Illinois.

Mr. KENT completed Basic Training on 08 January 2007 and was transferred for Temporary Duty to TSC (Training Support Center) Great Lakes, Illinois.

Mr. KENT was transferred to Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training in Coronado, California on 01 February 2007.

Mr. KENT's DD-214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) indicates that he lasted only 4 weeks before leaving that training program in March 2007. All students go through a portion of training called "Pre-Indoc" – a pre-BUD/S Indoctrination program which introduces them to the most elementary levels of physical and mental stress which they can expect to encounter during actual BUD/S training. During this portion of training (approx 1 month long) the instructors weed out those whom they evaluate as unfit (mentally or physically) for BUD/S. Also during this time period many students voluntarily leave the program after deciding that BUD/S training is not what they desire for their Navy Career. There are other reasons besides being "washed out" or voluntarily leaving which may cause a man to leave BUD/S prior to completion, including physical injuries which permanently preclude further training and ultimate duty as a SEAL, and disciplinary actions. It appears that Mr. KENT may not have completed the Pre-Indoctrination portion of the training program as his record indicates that his total time in the BUD/S program was only 4 weeks.

Mr. KENT was subsequently discharged from Active Duty on 20 November 2007. His total ACTIVE DUTY time was 1 YEAR and 19 DAYS. His DD-214 indicates that he was NOT required to perform any subsequent RESERVE DUTY for the Navy. Such a situation could only arise from a limited number of circumstances; either Mr. KENT was discharged due to physical injuries which precluded any further military service (active duty or reserve duty), or he was discharged under conditions/circumstances which involved disciplinary action. This means that he was either given a medical discharge – which would normally include a disability rating and some degree of monthly stipend or disability payment – or he received a less than honorable discharge under circumstances which prompted the Navy to void any further service obligation. Those who are discharged for disciplinary reasons are severed completely from the military system and do not get to keep a military ID card of any sort. Those who are discharged under medical circumstances may end up with a military ID card which designates them as "disabled" and permits them to have access to military property for the purposes of receiving medical treatments, etc.

The BUD/S training command is listed as the last one to which Mr. KENT as was formally assigned, and the physical station from which he was discharged is the nearby PSD (Personnel Support Detachment) North Island, located at the northern end of Coronado Island about 2 miles from the Naval Amphibious Base where BUD/S is conducted.

The mandates of the Privacy Act of 1974 have caused the National Personnel Records Center to black out specific blocks of text regarding the nature/reason for Mr. KENTâ€™s discharge from the US Navy, and any speculation on my part as to the nature of that discharge is inappropriate without additional information. Suffice it to say that Mr. KENT was assigned to the BUD/S training program but remained there only briefly (DD-214 says "4 wks". Although his participating in BUD/S training reported ended in March 2007 (4 weeks after he arrived at the command), Mr. KENT was not discharged from the Navy until 8 months later on 20 November 2007. Whether that 8 months was spent in a medical facility recovering from an injury, a detention/incarceration facility due to an infraction of military regulations, or simply a temporary personnel holding facility is not indicated. He was subsequently discharged from the Navy without any further obligation for military duty – active or reserve – after serving a grand total of 1 year and 19 days in the Navy.

Mr. KENT was formally authorized to wear two (2) awards - The National Defense Service Medal, and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal:

The National Defense Service Medal – a military decoration of the United States military originally commissioned by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Created in 1953, the National Defense Service Medal was intended to be a "blanket campaign medal" awarded to any member of the United States military who served honorably during a designated time period of which a "national emergency" had been declared.

In the years since the creation of the National Defense Service Medal, it is authorized only for the following time periods.

September 11, 2001 to a date to be announced for service during the War on Terrorism

The National Defense Service Medal is awarded to anyone who serves on active duty in the United States military during the above time periods.

The Global War on Terrorism Service Medal - a military decoration of the United States military which was created by Executive Order 13289 of President George W. Bush on 12 March 2003. The decoration recognizes those military service members who have performed service in the War on Terrorism from September 11, 2001 to a date to be determined.

To be awarded the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, a military service member must perform duty in a designated anti-terrorism operation for a period of either 30 consecutive or 60 non-consecutive days of duty. For those who were engaged in combat, killed, or wounded in the line of the duty the time requirement is waived.

The medal is also awarded to personnel who perform support duty of an anti-terrorism operation but do not directly participate. The phrase "support" is defined as any administrative, logistics, planning, operational, technical, or readiness activity which provides support to an operation of the Global War on Terrorism. As of 2005, this blanket term has effectively awarded the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal to most personnel of the United States armed forces who performed service after September of 2001.

Due to his active duty – limited though it was to 1 year and 19 days – falling within a particular time in US history, and because his period of duty lasted longer than the specified minimum 30 consecutive days, Mr. KENT was automatically authorized to wear both the National Defense Service Medal and the GWOT Service Medal upon his departure from Basic Training… despite never actually being assigned duty in a combat zone and never serving outside of the continental US.

Full training for SEAL Duty involves 6 months of BUD/S training, and 4 months of SQT (SEAL Qualification Training) before being granted SEAL status and assignment to a SEAL Team. Once assigned to a SEAL Team a man must go through 18 months of Pre-Deployment training before he is ready for assignment to a combat zone or assigned duties involving combat action. Thus a minimum of some 2 full calendar years passes from the day a man's BUD/S class convenes to the day he is fully qualified and trained/prepared for combat action as a SEAL Operator. As indicated in my previous email, Mr. KENT is not a BUD/S graduate, he was never granted the status of being a SEAL ("Combatant Swimmer, SEAL"), he was never assigned to SEAL Team SEVEN, and he made no deployments to any war zone as a SEAL. His military records make it clear that after only 1 year and 19 days he was discharge from the US Navy and all subsequent obligations for active and reserve duty were terminated.

If I can be of any further assistance to you in this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me at your convenience.

Steve Robinson RM2(SEAL)
USN 1970-1978
SEAL Team ONE
Inshore Undersea Warfare Group ONE
UDT-SEAL Association - Member
Special Operations Association - Member
POW Network Board of Directors
Naval Special Warfare Archives - SOF Analyst/Contributing Journalist
Disabled American Veterans - Life Member
FORMER Special Investigator - SEAL Authentication Team
CyberSEALs.org - Webmaster
Author - NO GUTS, NO GLORY - Unmasking Navy SEAL Imposters