Merle Todd " BJ " Johnson, US Navy SEAL, POSer, Blog of Shame
1209/01/2014 by militaryphonies
He claims to be a former SEAL who was bayoneted by a VC and killed him, of course. The wound on his hip is from surgery for a tumor which got him a medical
discharge from the Navy as a Seaman Apprentice. He never served in Vietnam, as he was not old enough. Now he lies about his age so that he’ll be old enough to have
served.
SW
Merle Todd “BJ” Johnson is (or was) a Deputy Sheriff with the Christian County Sheriff’s Dept. He’s been making false SEAL claims for years, and on two occasions
when I tried to contact him by phone he was “on a different shift” but the phone dispatcher knew him as “a former Navy SEAL”. L.E. Officers across the nation have
been trained by his outfit in Ozark – Academy of Professional Trainers (or something similar). He’s told many classes of students that “I was slitting throats in Vietnam
when you were pooping in your pampers”, and claimed to have the record for “the most hand to hand kills of all SEALs in the Vietnam conflict”… but in truth he was
only about 13 years old when the Vietnam War ended for US forces.
When the first list of Authorized CONCEALED CARRY Trainers was published by Taney County Sheriff, Jimmy Russell, it included Johnson’s outfit.. At that time Russell reportedly stated that he “knew about Mr.
Johnson”, that he was personally acquainted with an ATF agent who had confronted Johnson and told him to “cease and desist” all such claims or “suffer the
consequences”. Presumably those consequences would include loss of accreditation as an instructor and loss of employment as a Deputy Sheriff with Christian County.
Rumor had it that a couple of years ago that Johnson was not alone… that there was another SEAL imposter who had been dumped by another department –
Springfield PD maybe – but he’d transferred to or was picked up by the Christian County Sheriff’s Department… and that he and Johnson were “best buddies”. …….Reportedly
when the Christian County Sheriff lost the next election, “BJ” Johnson’s job as a Christian County Deputy Sheriff ended. He may still berunning the Academy of Professional Trainers.
 |
| 1 year, 6 months, 1 day. Discharged an E-1 |
Please contact me ASAP regarding the content of this blog post.
Give us a contact e-mail
The second possible phony Navy Seal is form Springfield PD Officer Joey Kyle, who went on to become Sheriff of Christian county…not surprisingly Joey Kyle currently in federal prison for embezzlement from Christian County….Joey held the rank of LT in the Naval Reserve until he was convicted of a felony.
I think “BJ” may be here in Aurora, CO. This guy is late 50’s early 60’s claims he served in Vietnam and that he’s a Navy SEAL stationed here with his SEAL team 3 at Buckley AirForce Base. Are there any pictures available of him. He claims he just flew a mission to Afghanistan, and covertly landed in Cuba for a moment, before coming back to Aurora. Plz help me expose him…
Please fill out our Report form on your suspected Navy SEAL phony in Aurora CO.. Thank you. ~ Scotty
I worked at Stone County for about ten years. I knew a BJ Johnson who owned APT in Ponce DE Leon if this is the same guy? Still running a business there the last I knew.
Hay Max,Not sure if you remember,I worked at stone co shrf dept.about the same time you were there 1997/98 C.O, transport officer.Is Richard
Hill still? there? I’ll concur,BJ still has the
APT training site last I heard.
Hey Rick I remember you although it’s been awhile! Geez that seems a lifetime ago lol Richard is still in the area but isn’t the Sheriff any longer. Hope your doing well!
Max,Thanks for getting back with me,it has been a while.Hope your also doing well.I’ve been living in AZ,about twelve yrs,enjoying the southwest.I still have family in Springfield,
we try and get back a couple of times a year.
Our email is. dfp46rfp50@gmail.com Is jerry Dodd still around?What about Allen Outhouse.Get back with me if you get a chance.
Take care,
Rick
So recently read your article on BJ. Johnson while doing some research on local firearms Instructors. This guy has now moved his training company to Corpus Christi Texas but it is the same guy even kept the same company name APT. Was first refereed to me by a friend , that took a class from him. Hes claiming to people this time be former federal agent and special forces. Hes recently been holding classes for local gunshops even police department training classes that I am unable to find any certifications on. IF this guy is.a fake this is scary since hes training people and pur local LEOs a curriculum that is not endorsed could cause some serious legal issues or get someone killed for those that use his training. Seems like the media needs to get involved on this one.
I don’t know if the media would do any good or not. They don’t seem to report truth or news much anymore especially as it relates to LE. Interesting if he is in Texas, that’s the first I have heard that he moved. Good luck!
The company is called association of professional trainers APT but from what I can tell it’s just Him