Scotty Priest – U.S. Marine, Beirut, Scout Sniper, 0321, 16 Confirmed Kills w/Weapon Plus 3 More Hand to Hand, POSer, Blog of Shame

11 years ago

Scotty Priest has visited some Beirut groups including a Beirut PTS chat room and stirred up quite a bit of attention with tales of confirmed kills and shooting the driver of the vehicle that bombed the Marine Barracks on 23 October 1983.

BACKGROUND AND CLAIMS

Scotty Priest has attracted some attention for quite some time on Facebook. He is a self-described “sof” …

… as well as a USMC veteran skilled in the art of special warfare.

Last year, he joined a few Beirut Veteran groups. A few of these groups were support groups focused on PTS and Priest shared some interesting stories with his introduction.

NOTE: MOS 0321 is Recon, but Priest implied he was a sniper (ghillie suit).

Beyond the implication with the suggestion of a ghillie suit, he actually stated that he was a scout sniper in Beirut, Lebanon (i.e. “the root”).

He then went on to say that he shot the driver of the vehicle that blew up the Marine Barracks in Beirut. By implication, this would have been on 23 October 1983 as part of the Multinational Force (MNF) Lebanon.

NOTE: It was a Mercedes truck vs. a car as Priest claimed, so this raised a red flag.
Then again, to give the benefit of the doubt it has been over 30 years.

Some veterans started leaving the group citing that they did not feel comfortable around people they were not certain had served in combat with them in Beirut. This may or may not have been prompted by Priest’s posts, but this activity was during the same exact time period of his posts.

Then, a general group statement was put out about the importance of “controlled environments”, where everyone had confidence who everyone else was as in the PTSD discussion groups at the VA due to participants providing their DD-214’s. The statement was further emphasized by stating “We cannot jeopardize the purpose of this group by letting just anyone in without knowing they actually served in combat, or even served period.”

Priest seemed to take exception to this even though it was not specifically directed at him…

… and in spite of reassurances from group members that nothing was specifically directed at him.

Since this plays into the case as well, Priest also claimed he was on disability. However, it was not clear if this was a VA claim or another type of disability.

Several inconsistencies prompted a look into Priest’s military background.

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FOIA RESULTS – SELECTED

Several FOIA requests were ordered. In fact, four (4) were eventually ordered but recent FOIA requests came back with only summary sheets but were identical. There is one more outstanding FOIA request but it is anticipated it will come back with just a summary sheet as well. A FOIA request made back in 2013 had a little more detail to it, but dates are inconsistent.

NOTE: The 2015 FOIA results were identical and only had a summary sheet even though detailed history of assignments with dates were specifically requested multiple times. Due to them being identical, only one was displayed in the above illustration.

Because of the dates being inconsistent, it is probable that the starting date of 17 NOV 1979, combined with the language of it being “RESERVE”, may reflect Priest’s date of enlistment contract on a delayed entry program in the 2013 FOIA results. The history of assignments being on 04 JUN 1980 as reporting for recruit training and which would reflect a day of travel (see below). This makes the 2013 FOIA dates consistent with the 2015 FOIA dates.

The 2013 FOIA results says Priest’s end of enlistment was 25 MAY 1982 but it says he was discharged from Camp Pendleton, California. It also says he was discharged from Camp Pendleton, California in the 2015 FOIA results. Specifically, the brig. Additionally, the 2015 FOIAs say that his enlistment went until 1984, a date also supported by the DoD Manpower Data Center results.

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FOIA RESULTS – COMPLETE

NPRC: 02 MAY 2013	NPRC: 03 SEP 2015
NPRC: 05 OCT 2015	DoD-Manpower Data Center

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SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION

DISABILITY

If Priest is suffering from a VA claimed disability, the question arises as to whether it is PTSD. This is a legitimate question because he made a curious effort to join a Beirut PTS group when the likelihood is slim to none that he was even in Beirut (or combat for that matter).

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BRIG

A strong argument can be made that Scotty Priest was transferred to the brig at Camp Pendleton, California as noted by the “CORRECTIONAL FACILITY BRANCH, SU#2 HQBN, MCB, CAMP PENDLETON, CA” notation on the official military records reflected by the 2015 FOIA summary sheets.

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BEIRUT, LEBANON

There were no overseas assignments listed and the history of assignments preclude Priest from being in Beirut, Lebanon in 1983. Since he was most likely in the Brig in Camp Pendleton in 1983, this casts doubts on his claim that he shot the driver of the vehicle that blew up the Marine Barracks in Beirut on October 23, 1983.

Also, having no medals listed does not support Priest’s claim that he was in Beirut, Lebanon in 1983.

Several people reached out to Priest and asked him about the MOS. Oddly, he repeatedly used the term “Forced Recon” vs. “Force Recon” for the 0321 MOS. He sometimes referred to that as a sniper. It is an Assaultman, and usually designates Reconnaissance but that could be Recon Battalion vs. Force Recon.

The MOS of 0811 was the only one listed and that is correct. There is no military education that would suggest he was 0321 or a scout sniper.

In addition to FOIA requests, several members of the Artillery Battery were consulted.

Priest was in Delta Battery 2/10 and that unit did not deploy to Beirut, Lebanon.

When pressed about some of these inconsistencies, things took a bizarre turn. Priest threatened to kill people and bury the bodies, as he claims he has done before.

Priest was convicted of aggravated assault and appears to have served prison time for it since it is a Class C Felony.

Since he is a convicted felon, is he allowed to possess the rifle that is displayed in his Facebook photo?

Then, a few minutes later things took an even more bizarre turn…

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SUICIDE

It is the policy of Military Phonies that no man should be pushed past his breaking point although many in this conversation were not associated with Military Phonies. It is our strong hope that someone will view being confronted with their military history as an opportunity to turn things around. In fact, some have expressed gratitude as well as relief that they can stop living a lie and come clean with those around them. We cannot anticipate outcomes, but we can’t let a remote possibility that someone is unwilling to face their past dictate our actions.

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TIMING

This was all bad timing to begin with. It was just after the Beirut Remembrance on 23 Oct 2015, so everything took a strategic pause until more information could be gathered.

Local newspapers in Parsons, Tennessee were monitored but no death notice, obituary or funeral arrangements for Scotty Priest were published.

Several days later after this unfolded, it was Scotty Priest’s birthday. His family and friends were posting birthday wishes. Among the people wishing him ‘Happy Birthday’ was the same person claiming to be Scotty’s widow. There was no mention of his death.

It was obvious that his immediate family were not aware of his death. Did Priest or someone close to him fake his own death on Facebook to get out from under the scrutiny? In either case, someone with access to Priest’s Facebook page removed the ‘Happy Birthday’ posts from Facebook soon afterwards.

Priest did not seem to have sensitivity with getting on a Beirut Veteran’s PTS group and telling tall stories about his 16 confirmed kills with 3 of those being hand to hand. Someone claiming to be Priest’s widow lashed out under his Facebook account suggesting that people were being insensitive and perhaps drove him over some edge.

Priest’s behavior of posting on the Beirut PTS groups could be labeled insensitive since this could trigger PTS with any of the veterans in those groups. What about them? What about the potential for them going over the edge? Who and what sensitivity is the greater consideration here?

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SUMMARY

We hope Priest takes this opportunity to come clean about his military record and seek help. We have a responsibility to report his embellishments and false claims to the veteran community. We afforded Priest with an opportunity to respond to our inquires.

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