Tim Kennedy, a National Guard Green Beret and major public figure within the post-9/11 veteran community, admitted this week to lying about receiving a valor award for combat service and to exaggerating parts of his service.
The admission by Kennedy, who is often seen promoting the Army's top brass, triggered an investigation and raised fresh questions inside the Pentagon about his close relationship with senior leaders.
In a social media post Monday, Kennedy said he had "implied directly or indirectly" that he had received the Bronze Star Medal with Valor. "That is not true, and there is no excuse for it," he wrote. "I want to take full and unequivocal responsibility for a serious mistake."
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Kennedy, a part-time master sergeant, currently serves with Special Operations Detachment-O, a small National Guard unit based outside Baltimore that liaises with NATO special operations forces. His apology came after reporters began pressing Army and Pentagon officials about inconsistencies in his service record, and after scrutiny from YouTubers.
Kennedy did not respond to a request for comment.
"The Maryland National Guard takes these matters seriously," said Maj. Benjamin Hughes, a Guard spokesperson. "Integrity is a core value of our organization, so an investigation is currently underway to review the facts surrounding these public misstatements."
It's unknown what repercussions Kennedy might face. However, the authority to revoke his Special Forces tab lies with the Army's Special Operations Command. It's unclear whether it plans to take any action.
In a July 2017 episode of "The American Warrior Show," Kennedy was asked whether he earned a Bronze Star for Valor and said that he had. "There was a bad guy, and the bad guy was shooting at us, and I shot him," he said. "I wish there was, like, this great heroic story; I just did what I was supposed to do like everybody else around me."
Kennedy did, however, receive a Bronze Star in 2006 for what the Army described as "exceptional leadership" while helping plan combat operations as a junior noncommissioned officer. Though the award was not for valor, it's an uncommon decoration for enlisted troops at his rank and age, even as Bronze Stars for leadership are virtually automatic for senior ranks.
But much of Kennedy's prestigious bona fides are true. He earned his Green Beret in 2005 and in 2007 graduated Ranger School, where he was recognized as a top graduate, his service records show. He deployed one time each to Iraq and Afghanistan and earned a Combat Infantryman Badge. He holds a black belt in jujitsu and is an accomplished fighter, and now trains as a hobbyist in elite martial arts circles and coaches in Austin, Texas.
Kennedy has served as a high-profile mouthpiece for top Army leaders, particularly Gen. Randy George, the service's top officer, and Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Weimer, who spent his entire career in special operations.
Kennedy made frequent appearances on Fox News and in social media videos praising Army leadership and amplifying various announcements in the past year, including wearing his uniform on-air during the service's birthday celebration last month. Last year, his reenlistment was conducted by George.
"This is the most capable, professional Army in America's history," Kennedy said in uniform on Fox News during the Army's birthday celebrations last month.
Internally, Kennedy's prominence has raised eyebrows. Multiple Army and Pentagon officials told Military.com that his role as a cheerleader for Weimer and George has frustrated much of the service's public affairs apparatus, which viewed his overt Republican partisanship and exaggerated record as a liability.
It's unclear whether the Army will cut Kennedy from public-facing events. A spokesperson for George declined to comment.
"Everyone thought this was a terrible idea," one Army official said, referring to senior service leaders using Kennedy as an unofficial spokesperson. "There is no shortage of awesome soldiers we could have found to deliver the same messages."
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