Reserve major faces jail over phony medals

The awards and badges Maj. Anthony Angelo Calderone wore turned his Class A uniform into a colorful billboard of combat heroism and professional achievement.

The Army Reserve major, who served in Iraq in 2005, wore a Silver Star, the Special Forces and Ranger tabs and other insignia.

The problem is Calderone didn’t earn any of those awards. Moreover, he used the illegitimate awards to nail down his promotion to major.

On Sept. 20, Calderone pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of lying about his awards and qualifications in order to gain a promotion. Sentencing is pending in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City. He faces a maximum sentence of five years and six months in prison and fines of up to $255,000.

The bogus awards include the Silver Star, the third-highest award for valor; the Special Forces and Ranger tabs; the Senior Parachutist Badge; the Military Freefall Parachutist Badge; the Special Operations Diver Badge; the Pathfinder Badge; the Combat Infantryman Badge; the Humanitarian Service Medal; the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal; the United Nations Medal; the Army Good Conduct Medal; and the Southwest Asia Service Medal.

“It’s completely offensive for this soldier to claim all these things,” said Robert Lund, the assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting the case.

David Finlayson, Calderone’s attorney, declined to comment.

“Until sentencing, there’s not much we can say,” he said.

News reports and civilian watchdogs reveal an increase in cases of individuals faking military service or awards as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan fuel the imaginations of wannabe war heroes. Many of those who have been busted for faking their military credentials are former soldiers or lower enlisted troops who were kicked out of the service for one reason or another. the case against Calderone, 41, is unusual because he is an officer and still in the service. His is the first case of a service member — officer or enlisted — falsely claiming awards or decorations to be prosecuted in federal court in Utah, Lund said.

Calderone, whose home of record is listed as Salt Lake City, enlisted in the New York Army National Guard in 1983 and was commissioned through the New York Guard in 1988, according to Army records. He transferred to the Individual Ready Reserve in 1996 and then to the Army Reserve in 2003. He earned the rank of captain in September 1995, and is listed as a captain, not a major, in Army records. Officials at Human Resources Command could not explain how he was being paid as a major yet continued to be listed as a captain.

According to Army records, Calderone has earned the Utah National Guard Achievement Ribbon, the Army Service Ribbon, the National Defense Service Medal and two Army Reserve Component Achievement medals. Records also show Calderone completed the motor transport operator course in 1985, Officer Candidate School in 1987 and the infantry officer course in 1988. He completed the infantry officer advance course in 1991 and basic airborne school in 1993, but there is no record of Ranger school or Special Forces qualification.

Calderone, who was deployed to Iraq from January 2005 to December 2005, also admitted to knowingly and willfully making false statements about his tours of duty, qualifications and awards. He was charged with falsely including unauthorized decorations and listing tours of duty and military training that he had not completed.

Court documents say Calderone put those false statements, including that he had a Silver Star, the Special Forces and Ranger tabs, and the Combat Infantryman Badge, on his DA Form 2-1, the personal qualification record, and on his DD 214, the certificate of release from active duty. Calderone later submitted the falsified DD 214 to his Army Reserve unit, according to court documents. Those false statements on official military documents led to his promotion to major in July 2006, and led to him earning more pay, according to court documents.

The charge of knowingly making false statements is a felony and it carries up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, Lund said. Calderone is accused of wearing these decorations between Nov. 22, 2003, and Dec. 3, 2006. That charge, a misdemeanor, carries a maximum sentence of six months in prison and a $5,000 fine, Lund said.

Calderone also was charged with receiving wages he didn’t earn because of the promotion he fraudulently obtained — earning about $1,000 more than he was supposed to. The prosecution agreed to drop that charge based on Calderone’s decision to plead guilty. The commanding general of the Reserve’s 104th Division will make a recommendation to Lt. Gen. Jack Stultz, the chief of the Reserve, on what military action should be taken against Calderone, said Maj. Daniel Herrigstad, spokesman for the 104th Division in Vancouver, Wash.

Calderone’s unit, 2nd Battalion, 414th Regiment, used to fall under the 104th, and when the unit was reassigned, the division kept Calderone until this issue could be resolved, Herrigstad said.

The division is in the process of separating Calderone from the Army, but the recommendation submitted to Stultz could include an honorable, general or other-than-honorable discharge or a court-martial, Herrigstad said.

Calderone has about 16 years in the service, so he would not be eligible for retirement benefits anyway, Herrigstad said.

Calderone was busted by his fellow soldiers in 2-414th, which is a unit made up of basic training drill sergeants.

When he arrived at the unit, the soldiers were suspicious because of the number of badges he wore, said a member of the unit who asked not to be named. More questions arose when Calderone’s records never showed up from his previous unit, the soldier said.

The final straw was when Calderone wore a Silver Star at a formal uniform inspection and dining out during Christmas 2006, the soldier said.

He was later investigated by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service before he was turned over to federal prosecutors. The case was turned over to civilian court because Calderone is accused of committing these acts as a drilling reservist. Because he wasn’t on active duty, he wasn’t subject to the Uniform Code of Criminal Justice.

The case against Calderone was fairly complex, and because investigators didn’t discover the fraudulent actions for some time after he returned from active duty, it was referred to civilian instead of Army court, said Lund, who also is a major and the command judge advocate for 19th Special Forces Group in the Utah Army National Guard.

Because his case is moving through civilian court, it’s unknown what action the Army will take against Calderone.

“It all depends on what charges are brought, if there’s a conviction, and what the command decides,” said Master Sgt. Keith O’Donnell, a spokesman for Human Resources Command in St. Louis. “There are too many possibilities. There may be extenuating circumstances. It depends on what the command thinks is appropriate for the actions he’s done.”

Lt. Col. Randy Watt, commander of 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group, has been called to testify at Calderone’s sentencing. Lund said he called on Watt because he wanted the court to see an example of an officer who actually earned his awards and decorations.

“I think it’s absolutely demeaning to the service and sacrifice of the U.S. service member to have people fraudulently wear awards and badges, and it’s a crime,” Watt said.

Watt has never met Calderone, but when Watt was a company commander in 1992, Calderone was listed as a member of his company.

Calderone was in the Special Forces training pipeline at the time, but because he was in the Guard, he had to be slotted to a vacant position in a unit, Watt said.

Calderone never earned the SF or Ranger tabs, and he never showed up for any of the company’s drill commitments, Watt said.

There is no certificate or indication that Calderone graduated from the Special Forces qualification course, nor is there any documentation that he attended Ranger school, according to Army records.

Watt has a Bronze Star with V device, two Bronze Star medals, a Combat Infantryman Badge, a Meritorious Service Medal and other awards. He was mobilized for Afghanistan from December 2001 to December 2002, and for Iraq from July 2006 to June 2007.

Calderone’s actions baffle him, Watt said.

“An officer doesn’t lie, cheat or steal, nor tolerate those who do. That’s it, in a nutshell,” he said. “I don’t know the mentality that goes with this. I don’t grasp it.”