SSD received word earlier today that the Special Forces Association has revoked the membership of Joe Teti. The star of Discovery Channel’s “Dual Survival” served in the US Marine Corps as well as in the Army National Guard’s 19th SFG(A).
This isn’t something that is taken lightly. Revocation of membership has only happened 10 times in the Association’s history. It is our understanding that Teti’s membership was revoked pursuant to Paragraph VII.c. of the SFA’s constitution. His SFA membership cannot be reinstated.
Mr Teti’s background has long been a point of contention. There are numerous websites that detail the inconsistencies surrounding his service record and public claims. We welcome SSD readers to provide relevant links in the comments.
Tags: Joe Teti
http://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=35456
^ thisainthell may not have the best reputation around, but there are some docs.
Those are the records I saw some time ago. My conclusion was same as ThisAin’tHell’s. Apparently, quite a bit has come out since then.
I’ve never met this Teti guy. But FWIW…
I do know that when 911 happened everybody in the Groups (including NG) that I know did everything they could to stay.
If they had dropped their retirement – they pulled it back.
If they were retired within the last 5 years they submitted their packets to be recalled to active duty.
If they had other plans they cancelled them. Which is what I would expect from an 18 series guy.
Apparently Teti had other priorities.
Not to say that some good people didn’t end up in the contractor system eventually.
Still…I’d really like to hear from some of his teammates in 19th Group.
What a mess. I’ve tried a couple of times to make sense this. All of the docs I’ve seen are some variation of what is included at TAH. What it looks like to me:
The guy was SF. He did not do any “Ops” while serving in that capacity.
The guy was also an IC. He did some “Ops” while serving in that capacity.
The guy has conflated the two bits of his career, mentioned above, to make it appear he did Ops in a context where no such context exists. Right or wrong, I can see why SFA dumped him.
I read the above link and bounced around to some other forums with screen shots ect. There may be some exaggerations or stretches in the use of undefined terms. However, from the photos it appears that he did indeed support our Intelligence Community as an IC. The SFNG is full of guys who serve their country just as much in their full time jobs if not more than they do during their mobilization. Most view their service as ICs to be equally important securing our nation. Choosing a contract job over a chance for a mobilization seems to be a no brainer to me. Unless he made claims outside his Bio, forged documents/photos or he was forced to resign/barred from reenlistment or fired from his IC gig for gross incompetence, I would have to agree with thisainthell and SSDs initial assessments.
Sometimes the veil of secrecy/unknown creates a unrealistic expectation of the public. There is an assumed level of competency of military personnel when it comes to marksmanship, survival, fighting, foreign policy, ect. Graduating from OTC does not make you a better pistol shooter/teacher than a USPSA GM. Graduating from every SERE school does not necessarily make you the best expert at survival. Conducting SOCP does not mean you can hang for a round against one of the worst ranked MMA fighters. Military units hire civilians to run SERE, marksmanship, driving, mff, physical fitness/rehab/prehab and a bunch of other training. To some degree this expectation for excellence deters our warriors from competitive shooting, races/physical competitions, and developing other skills the general public may believe we automatically possess because of our military backgrounds.
I do think it is ridiculous how much some people feel the need to use their military service to justify their expertise. Maybe this is pushed on guys when they choose to become public figures by publicists/producers. I too often I see military personnel who are talked up by a show, but then underperform. This is part of the basis for a SOCOM policy memorandum that was intended to prevent serving SOF personnel from poorly representing their units by participating in shooting, combatives and other competitions where their association with a SOCOM unit is the basis for their involvement. In the end I prefer people who are more focused on bettering themselves and building new skills, than living off the actions of their past.
http://tech.graze.com/content/images/2014/Apr/mind-blown.gif
Very well said Sir,
That was an intelligent and respectful assessment.
+1
Do not know the guy so won’t comment of his record. However he said on Dual survival that he does not like beer and his drink of choice is PEACH WINE COOLER! That should have been grounds for dismissal in itself.
Ha
I miss Dave.
Canterbury was AWESOME! Especially with Cody. They had a mutual respect.
Reverend, according to videos i have watched on youtube, made by dave, they did NOT get along with each other, nor did cody respect dave. i dont think the respect was mutual.
Cody did not get along with anyone in these shows after each ones talent surpassed his
I think it’s a shame. Perfect example of trading your soul for fame and fortune.
Ok, I feel I have a real insight on this since I work in the these arenas. Let me start by saying I do not and never have bad mouthed anyone in my community with out them knowing exactly how I feel about them both publicly and personally first. I feel it is important that my team mates can always tell me what I am doing right and wrong. I firmly believe that when there is bad blood or poor performance the benefit of the doubt should be given until proven other wise or performance can not be improved. SOF insulates its members it is not organization that throws them to the wolves. If an SF soldier or any other SOF professional is found to have done something that warrants “tab” removal or any other form of permanent punishment then punishment follows suit.
That being said, I understand and support using your pedigree to your advantage to separate yourself from the ordinary if you have earned such a title. That comes with a condition, NEVER embellish and NEVER lie about who you are, what you have accomplished, and what you have done. My distain came from a picture that this gentleman posted online that showed an operational post that should NEVER have been made public. Certain things must never be public and certain lines should not be crossed. I know of another individual who has claimed to be much more than he is or has done/combat situations that he never actually was in and he is VERY popular in the civilian shoot world and has a popular product line. Who he is, is not important but for those of us in the SOF world and for those of us in the IC world it is a mater of HONOR to never lie or embellish what we are or have done. PERIOD.
Very curious who your un-named popular guy is.
+1
I would say but I don’t feel it’s my place since I never served with this guy personally. I can say though that my colleagues detest him and called him a camera whore. There was a lot of controversy over his claims. The men I work with are solid men, I trust them completely and it is always the same story, never a deviation. Sucks to think this sort of thing happens. This guy technically accomplished a lot in his career so I don’t see a need to embellish. Oh well. I am just a dude, and the dude abides.
who rides a dirt bike with a M24 and bump helmet?
He said in a statement that he never served during combat.But .If you look at his bio it says he did during OIF and OEF LIAR!
He definitley served in combat, it was just with an Intelligence Agency, not the military.
A liar is still a liar. It’s like saying you were SF when in reality you sat next to a couple of SF guys one time at victoria’s cabaret. To me the guys that did serve and lie to inflate their reputation are not different than those fuck sticks that get outed over at stolen valor.