UPDATE (June 26, 2024, 1:57 p.m. ET): The day after this report ran, Nehls agreed to stop wearing the Combat Infantryman Badge. He also blamed news organizations for the ordeal.
Rep. Troy Nehls was already facing difficult questions about why he wears a Combat Infantryman Badge on his lapel. This week, those questions grew louder as the U.S. Army commented on the Texas Republican’s service record for the first time. NOTUS reported:
The Army’s statement to NOTUS confirms prior reporting that Nehls served in the Army as an enlisted infantryman, as well as an armor and civil affairs officer from July 1988 to December 2008 — first in the Wisconsin National Guard for 13 years and then in the Army Reserve for the last seven years. For both deployments — Iraq in 2004 and Afghanistan in 2008 — Nehls served as an officer in the civil affairs branch, an Army spokesperson confirmed to NOTUS. That role does not qualify for the Combat Infantryman Badge.
For those who might benefit from a refresher, CBS News reported last month that he received the Combat Badge in 2008, but it was “revoked from his service record in March 2023 because Nehls served as a civil affairs officer, not as an infantryman or Special Forces soldier.”
The GOP lawmaker routinely wears the Combat Badge anyway. Nehls continued to wear it even after the CBS News report reached the public.
The fact that an Army spokesperson has now confirmed that the congressman’s record does not qualify him for the Combat Infantryman Badge makes the story all the more provocative, but it’s also of note that the congressman’s colleagues — including members of his own party — aren’t backing him up on this. NOTUS reported earlier this month:
House Republicans are accusing Rep. Troy Nehls of “stolen valor” for continuing to wear a lapel pin for infantrymen or Special Forces who fought in active combat. “It matters. As a former commander, it matters what you wear on your uniform,” Rep. Ryan Zinke, a retired Navy SEAL, told NOTUS. “And if you didn’t earn it, you shouldn’t wear it.”
Just so we’re clear, Nehls is, in fact, a U.S. Army veteran who boasted in a campaign ad that he “fought terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan.” But his apparent willingness to wear a lapel pin reserved for those who fought in active combat — which records suggest he did not do — is drawing rebukes from his ostensible partisan allies. The report added: NOTUS spoke with a dozen military veteran Republican lawmakers about Nehls’ pin. Some were granted anonymity to speak freely about their colleague. Eight expressed deep frustration with Nehls for wearing the pin. Those who were more reluctant to cast aspersions said they took the matter seriously and were independently reviewing the allegations against the Texas Republican.
Rep. Wesley Hunt, a fellow veteran and fellow Texas Republican, concluded, “That’s ridiculous. That’s stolen valor.” Common sense suggests now would be a good time for Nehls to back down. It’s not at all clear whether he will. This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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