GRIFFIN A. REDMANN

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 or any other government organization. My efforts to expose SEAL imposters are performed as a service to the public, and in honor of my SEAL Teammates who gave their lives in service to our nation… men who truly earned the right to the title “US NAVY SEAL” but who are no longer able to stand forward in defense of their honor, their reputations, and their TEAMs. 

If the name you provided is spelled correctly, I do NOT find a listing in the SEAL Database (end of WWII to the Present Day) for anyone named GRIFFIN A. REDMANN. I have also examined possible alternate spellings, and names with similar pronunciations without finding any that appear to be applicable. In fact there is no one listed in the entirety of the SEAL Database with the last name “REDMANN”, and only two (2) men with the similar last name “REDMAN”. Neither of those two men has the first name “GRIFFIN” or a middle name beginning with the letter “A”.

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

No one gets to the SEAL Teams without first completing BUD/S Training. There are records of every man who has qualified for the title of “SEAL”; there have been and will continue to be secret missions, but there are NO secret SEALs… we know them all.

Mr. REDMANN has made a fundamental error in the way that he uses the military acronym for the Navy’s Special Operations Forces. He has referred to himself as having been “a Navy S.E.A.L.s instructor” and to have “completed S.E.A.L.s training”. No valid member of the Navy’s SEAL Teams would use such terminology, apply such punctuation, or offer it in such a plural form with the final “s”. The whole of his textual presentation seems centered upon confronting “bullies”, and conjecture leads me to believe that he was likely the subject of much bullying during his school years. Braggadocio regarding heroics and awards is common in combat fiction stories – both in print and on film – but is certainly NOT something found in the vast majority of Navy SEALs. Listing of medals, awards, and commendations is virtually never done, and many of the credentials claimed by the man are either fictitious or are classifications/skills which are not normally associated with duty in the Navy’s SEAL Teams. The man’s presentation is purest fantasy and obviously presented for the purpose of deterring bullying and aggression.

Mr. REDMANN claims to have reported for Navy Basic Training (“boot camp”) on 10 Jan 1983, and to have reported to “S.E.A.L.s training on 01 Mar 1983 at Coronado Island”. If he actually reported for Basic Training on the date claimed, that basic “boot camp” training would not have been completed seven (7) weeks later when he claims to have reported for SEAL training. Additionally, his claim of “showing off” in the swimming pool and thus “being sent” to SEAL training is completely inaccurate. The Physical Screen Test (PST) for those who seek to attend SEAL training is far more involved and far more substantial than a little bit of “showboating” in a swimming pool.

Mr. REDMANN’s claim of earning High School Graduation credits by completing Navy Basic Training is complete fiction. Navy Basic Training teaches recruits military conduct and regimentation; how to live day-to-day and conduct oneself in a military manner appropriate to US Navy regulations. That training does not include any course material which would convey an academic certification of any sort – High School or otherwise.

Mr. REDMANN’s list of claimed combat accomplishments are pure fantasy and do not accurately reflect either the manner in which Navy SEALs conduct combat operations, nor in the way that they describe those actions after the fact. He claims to have destroyed “Stinger Missile Bases” in Beirut, Lebanon although the Stinger surface-to-air missile is part of the US arsenal of weaponry. There were no “Stinger Missile Bases” to be destroyed.

If Mr. REDMANN’s timeline is examined, his claims of being involved in combat operations on the island of Grenada (Oct 1983) are virtually impossible. Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training and the subsequent advanced training which took place once a man had been assigned to a SEAL Team would have made any such actions on his part completely impossible. His claim of being a captive of enemy forces, and of making a successful escape after being tortured is completely fictitious. No Navy UDT “Frogman” or Navy SEAL has ever been captured, detained, or held as a POW.

The sum total of all of Mr. REDMANN’s erroneous timelines, misuse of military acronyms and terminology, ludicrous check list of claimed combat accomplishments, completely fictitious POW captivity and escape, and braggadocio regarding awards for heroism aren’t even the stuff of good fiction. His statement that he has been awarded the BRONZE STAR is doubtless as fictitious as the rest of his story, and would most certainly qualify him for prosecution under the provisions of the STOLEN VALOR ACT of 2005. Mr. REDMANN’s continuous reference to bullies and bullying during his school years make it blatantly clear that his main motivation continues to involve combating those antagonists. His claims of being a Navy SEAL, and the training/combat/award credentials he has concocted to support those false claims are ludicrous, laughable, and completely without merit or credibility. ...

Thank you again for your concern in this matter, and for your assistance in upholding the honor of the US Navy SEAL Teams. If I can be of any further assistance to you in this matter, please contact me at your convenience.

Respectfully,