Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) proudly wears an Army badge on his suit lapel. It’s a decoration reserved for soldiers who came under fire while engaged in combat. Problem is, the only fire he’s faced lately is from veterans accusing him of stolen valor.
Those complaints took on added heft Friday, when the Army confirmed to the publication NOTUS that Nehls was never deployed as a combat infantryman during his 20 years with the armed services.
The statement confirms extensive prior reporting by Guardian of Valor, a veterans watchdog group, which in May began sounding the alarm about Nehls wearing a Combat Infantryman Badge he didn’t earn.
The group reviewed the Texas Republican’s 53-page military personnel file, and found that while a badge had been awarded in 2008 for his deployment to Afghanistan, the Army revoked it in 2023 after realizing he’d served as a civil affairs officer ― not in the infantry or Special Forces.
Nehls responded by sharing a Defense Department letter on social media that appears to confirm the award. The letter, from 2008, bears the signature of Army Maj. Tim Botset.
But Botset, now retired, told KHOU earlier this month that someone else seems to have signed on his behalf, because he knows with “absolute certainty” that he didn’t sign it himself.
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“I was shown the memorandum containing my signature block over a year ago,” Botset told KHOU in a statement. “I informed the investigator that it is my signature block but not my signature. It reads ‘for,’ which means someone else signed in my place. I know with absolute certainty that I did not sign it. I was on EML (Environment and Morale Leave) in Tennessee on the date indicated on the memorandum.”
“Is this an honest mistake? Perhaps, but finding a copy of the 4187 and/or sworn statements that generated the memorandum will provide you the specifics behind the award,” he continued. “I do not know anyone in my unit that would have intentionally approved an award for someone that was not entitled. No one, for any reason, should knowingly wear unearned awards or badges ― period.”
In a letter of his own addressed to U.S. Army Human Resources Command, Nehls accused the veterans group of attempting to discredit him.
“I disagree with the Awards and Decorations Branch revocation of my CIB, which was awarded by the 101st Airborne Division,” Nehls wrote. “I further believe this is a concerted effort to discredit my military service and continued service to the American people as a member of Congress.”
But Anthony Anderson, an Army veteran who runs Guardian of Valor, says it’s quite the opposite.
“The veteran community is starting to get to the point now where there’s no room for forgiveness at this point because now they see, ‘Hey, this wasn’t an error. He’s doubling down now,’” Anderson told Military.com. “He knows he didn’t earn this award.”