Michael Thomas Bender – U.S. Marine Corps MSgt – Retired, U.S.M.C. Force Reconnaissance, Blog of Shame
909/28/2018 by militaryphonies
BACKGROUND
Michael Thomas Bender comes to us from Batavia, Ohio. He is 52 y/o as of September 2018.
Bender has claimed both USMC Force Reconnaissance…
… as well as Recon Battalion.
Force Recon and Recon Battalion are different. A Marine Recon battalion reports to a division command. Force Recon reports to a MAGTF command (Marine Air Ground Task Force). Although there are some similarities, there is a significant difference between them. Marine Recon units are trained for “Battlefield” reconnaissance, whereas Force Recon units are trained for both “Battlefield” and “Beyond the Battlefield” reconnaissance.
On Bender’s VetFriends profile above, he claims that he served from 1984 – 2010 and retired as a Gunnery Sergeant (E-7). However, in this photo at what appears to be a baseball game, he wears the rank insignia of a Master Sergeant (E-8).
Bender was working with the U.S. Naval Sea Cadets, a program that trains young men and women for potential service in the military. On the following bio, he also claims to have been a Master Sergeant (MSgt – E-8), served from 1984 – 2010 and retired from the Marine Corps after 26 years.
In the below photo, Bender poses with a Sea Cadet – wears a “scuba bubble” and jump wings indicative of Recon. He also sports quite a few ribbons, including the Combat Action Ribbon. This must command a lot of respect with the young cadets.
For comparison, here is an example of the Combat Action Ribbon…
See if you can guess what’s wrong with Bender’s Combat Action Ribbon in the above photo, and the following – here’s another photo of Bender wearing his ribbons…
Michael Thomas Bender’s records were requested through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
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NATIONAL PERSONNEL RECORDS CENTER (NPRC)
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DISCUSSION and SUMMARY
Michael Bender was discharged from the USMC as a Corporal (E-4) vs. a MSgt (E-8).
There is nothing in his records to support him serving from 1986 – 2010. The time he spent on active duty is consistent with a Marine that was in the Reserve. In fact, on his summary sheet, it says he was in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.
The only medal listed is a Rifle Marksman Badge. There is no Combat Action Ribbon. If one were to search for Michael Bender in the USMC CAR & HSM Database, there were no possibilities for this Michael Bender for either an HSM or a CAR. The USMC Car & HSM database has been known to be inaccurate, however.
Bender’s military records show a relatively short career and show he was a Marine — but NO MSgt, NO CAR, NO Recon qualifications or commands.
If Bender used the CAR and other adornments to leverage anything of value including work, he may have put himself in direct conflict with the Federal Stolen Valor Act law.
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PHOTOS and SOCIAL MEDIA
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- FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/mike.bender.98 (personal)
- BUSINESS: http://www.petratraining.com/
- SEA CADET BIO: https://www.region57nscc.org/pmi-bio
- BENDER’S MARINE CORPS LEAGUE: http://www.mclcincioh.org/ (see Memorial Day Parade photos)
- MARINE CORPS LEAGUE-FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/MontezumaCincinnati/
This Ain’t Hell: https://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=82051
[…] Military Phony sent us there work on Michael Thomas Bender – who claims he is a retired MSgt of Marines who served from 1984 – 2010 and retired after 26 years. […]
I am a parent, and frankly shocked that a proper background check was not conducted prior to Bender participating in Cin. Division. The prior unit C.O. is a friend of Bender and permitted him to be around the cadets prior to being registered. Greenwald, the prior C.O. was fired, and now is the executive officer of the REGION and I see Bender is still listed on the website! What a crock!
This is true. And the Regional Director made the decision to move this POS from Cincinnati Division to Region Staff so he could hurt even more kids despite Bender having abuse allegations against him.
Another busted Sea Cadet Phony. When will it end? Do any of the staff in the ivory tower at Sea Cadet Headquarters even care?
What a freaking joke. If he wants to serve, this looser should have stayed on active duty.
thanks for the research on this puke—hope this @sshole isn’t getting any V.A. benefits ! keep up the good work. i have a guy that lives near me–says he was in the corp—but doesn’t remember “WHERE” he went to boot camp ! are you fucking kidding me !!
What i think cannot be posted.
Yes he served for a short time but i would still consider him a coward for stealing the valor that these ribbons would bring had he served long enough to earn them.
He should be brought up on charges.
But to prove an act of stolen valor he must have gained something of value.
A.R. Martinez
U.S.M.C.
Corp. E-4
74-78 / 81-83
Another NX cowboy.
wtf he looks like the Krynoid monster from that 70s Doctor Who episode where the plants started taking over, lmao