Military officers set Council hopeful’s National Guard record straight
By CHRIS BRENNAN
THE SHORT VERSION of David Oh’s political resume:
The former city prosecutor enlisted in the Army National Guard, joined an elite Special Forces unit and then came home to run a law practice.
But two high-ranking military officers familiar with Oh’s National Guard record say his claim to have been a Green Beret is bunk.
Oh, a front-runner for a Republican at-large City Council seat in the Nov. 8 general election, did not make it through the training to become a Green Beret in 1991.
The 20th Special Forces Group, part of the Maryland Army National Guard, rejects Oh’s claim to the Daily News that his unit “designated” him to be a Green Beret because he was appointed to the role of detachment technician when the unit was briefly called to active duty in 1991.
Jim Croall, Oh’s commanding officer in 1991, said that that claim is “absolutely not” accurate.
“That would be totally stretching it,” said Croall, who retired as a colonel after serving a tour of duty in Iraq in 2003.
Croall, who recalls Oh not completing the Special Forces training, said that he resents it when “wannabes” call themselves Green Berets without justification.
Croall said that Special Forces units for all branches of the military must deal at times with people who make exaggerated claims about their military service. Some use Internet sites to expose Special Forces fakers, he said.
“There are plenty of people out there who claim to be something they are not,” Croall said.
Lt. Col. Charles Kohler, of the Maryland Army National Guard, reviewed Oh’s military record and also concluded that his claim is not accurate. “He was never qualified as a Special Forces officer,” Kohler said.
Instead, Oh is listed in those records as an infantry officer with the rank of second lieutenant, attached to the 20th Special Forces Group as he attempted to complete the required training.
Oh insists that he is accurate in calling himself a former Special Forces officer and Green Beret because the 20th Special Forces Group was called to active duty in 1991 and anticipated being deployed to Iraq for Operation Desert Storm. Oh said that he would have been sent with the unit, which wasn’t deployed because that war ended quickly.
“If we weren’t called to war, if we weren’t activated, if we weren’t going overseas, I could call myself something else,” he said.
Oh finished the three-week Special Forces selection and assessment course in 1991 but was not picked to continue on to the Special Forces qualification course. He was eligible to repeat the first course to attempt to qualify for the second course, but did not.
To reach the status of Green Beret, Oh would have had to complete both courses successfully, Croall said.
Oh has referred to himself as a Special Forces officer and Green Beret on his campaign websites and in campaign literature this year and during his first two runs for Council in 2003 and 2007.