Merle Todd "BJ" Johnson

Merle Todd Johnson (AKA BJ Johnson)

DOB  1956

Naval Service 6-28-74 to 12-29-75

E-2 1 year, 6 months, 1 day

ACTUAL RECORDS

He claims to be a former SEAL who was bayoneted by a VC and killed him, of course. The wound on his hip is from surgery for a tumor which got him a medical discharge from the Navy as a Seaman Apprentice. He never served in Vietnam,  as he was not old enough. Now he lies about his age so that he'll be old enough to have  served.

SW

Merle Todd "BJ" Johnson is (or was) a Deputy Sheriff with the Christian County Sheriff's Dept. He's been making false SEAL claims for years, and on two occasions when I tried to contact him by phone he was "on a different shift" but the phone dispatcher knew him as "a former Navy SEAL". L.E. Officers across the nation have been trained by his outfit in Ozark - Academy of Professional Trainers (or something similar). He's told many classes of students that "I was slitting throats in Vietnam when you were pooping in your pampers", and claimed to have the record for "the most hand to hand kills of all SEALs in the Vietnam conflict"... but in truth he was only about 13 years old when the Vietnam War ended for US forces.

When the first list of Authorized CONCEALED CARRY Trainers was published by Taney County Sheriff, Jimmy Russell, it included Johnson's outfit. I personally visited Jimmy Russell, gave him an autographed copy of my book, and informed him about Johnson's false claims. At that time Jimmy told me that he "knew about Mr. Johnson", that he was personally acquainted with an ATF agent who had confronted Johnson and told him to "cease and desist" all such claims or "suffer the consequences". Presumably those consequences would include loss of accreditation as an instructor and loss of employment as a Deputy Sheriff with Christian County. Jimmy made the statement in such as way/tone as to end our conversation at that point. He thanked me for the book, and my concern, indicated that things were "well in hand" and then indicated that he had to return to his work... so I left.

I had heard somewhere a couple of years ago that Johnson was not alone... that there was another SEAL imposter who had been dumped by another department - Springfield PD I think - but he'd transferred to or was picked up by the Christian County Sheriff's Department... and that he and Johnson were "best buddies". ....... I'd heard later that when the Christian County Sheriff lost the next election, that "BJ" Johnson's job as a Christian County Deputy Sheriff ended shortly after that. To the best of my knowledge he's still running the Academy of Professional Trainers.

Read about what Waterman and Hackworth said here: http://www.hackworth.com/sw12072002a.html

Here's the link for the web site Johnson maintains:  http://www.aptacademy.com/

This guy apparently has (or had) a goodly number of law enforcement types who swear that he is the real deal, and are prepared to make life "difficult" for those who question Johnson's credentials. That may or may not have changed since the Christian County Sheriff's office changed hands. I've visited their web site and they have a "PRO SHOP" which is virtually empty of anything but some few items that a buy can find with Blackhawk or Cabellas at far lower prices.

SR

The real problem is that this guy has insinuated himself into the .... tough guy sub-culture in this area and apparently has a LOT of people who are dead certain he's the real deal. All of the other cops I spoke with at the Christian Country Sheriff's Department knew him as "BJ... the Navy SEAL", and were really proud to tell me so over the phone.

SR