BACKGROUND
Ty Kevin Hampe comes to us from Greencastle, Indiana. Hampe is 56 years old as of November 2019.
Hampe posted some photos on line that depicted himself in an Army uniform with various valor medals. The uniform was that of a U.S. Army Staff Sergeant (SGT / E-5) with 12 years of service designated by the four service stripes on the sleeve. One Army service stripe denotes three years of service.
NOTE: This could have been an earlier photograph because later he claimed he was a Staff Sergeant (SSG / E-6) with 20 years of service.
Hampe also posted a close-up of what appears to be the same uniform above. One can clearly see the Combat Infantry Badge (CIB) with a star to denote a second award. One can also see a Bronze Star.
Someone commented on three (3) tours and Hampe corrected them saying he actually had five (5) tours.
Here is an enlarged view of the medals/awards…
We were not certain of a few of the medals. They were out of precedence order and the Kuwait Liberation medal is being worn upside down.
Below is our best guess at the medals, with a photo for comparison…
Oddly enough, he is missing the Army Service Ribbon which every soldier receives when they complete Basic entry-level training.
Also odd is that he seems to display a Marine Corps Reserve Service Ribbon which were only given out at a specific time between 1945 – 1965.
He makes several claims. On his truck he claims he is a Desert Storm veteran.
On a car racing site, he claims to be a combat veteran.
He also claims to be a combat veteran on a hunting outfitters site.
On his LinkedIn site, he claims to be a Staff Sergent (SSG / E-6) having graduated a variety of schools: Airborne, Air Assault, Jump Master, Rappel Master, RIP, HALO, Jungle School, FEMA and Special Operations School.
But another odd thing is he gets the universities mixed up – once saying he got his degree from Texas A&M and another time saying it was Texas Tech. They are separate universities.
IMPLICATIONS
Then, there are claims by implication. Although he doesn’t state the claim, he will post something to his Facebook account and accept thanks without correcting anybody should they make an assumption that wasn’t true. He did this with Airborne, the 82nd, the Purple Heart medal and the Battle of Mogadishu.
Here are Hampe’s Timeline and Education profiles from his Facebook page.
Several people were very skeptical and asked Military Phony to look into these claims.
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ACTIONS CONDUCTED BY MILITARY PHONIES
Ty Kevin Hampe’s military records were ordered through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
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FOIA RESULTS
NATIONAL PERSONNEL RECORDS CENTER (NPRC)
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE MANPOWER DATA CENTER (SCRA)
Additionally, Hampe’s LinkedIn page claimed that he was in the National Guard from 2001-2011 and the NPRC did not return results for that period. The DoD Manpower Data Center was systematically searched from 1994 to PRESENT and there was no indication of active duty. NPRC would have picked up any National Guard service, regardless of active duty.
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DISCUSSION and SUMMARY
Military records for Ty Hampe show that he served in the U.S. Army from January 26, 1982 to April 30, 1993, so less than the 12 years that his service stripes claim and less than the 20 years he claims on LinkedIn.
According to records that were obtained from the NPRC and DoD Manpower Data Center, Hampe was discharged from the U.S. Army on April 30, 1993 and the Battle of Mogadishu was from 3-4 October 1993.
The rank listed on the NPRC Summary Sheet is Specialist (E-4) vs. Staff Sergeant (E-6) which he also claims on LinkedIn and the Sergeant (E-5) which is the rank displayed on his uniform photo.
MEDALS & BADGES
There are a lot of discrepancies in the medals listed in his records and the medals displayed on the uniform photo. We did another comparison graphic to help in the comparison.
He does have a Parachutist’s Badge and an Air Assault Badge.
There is no Purple Heart, no Bronze Star Medal, no Master Parachutist’s Badge, no Master Rigger school, or no jungle school listed in Ty Hampe’s official military records. It does strike us as odd that he does not have a National Defense Service medal listed in his records.
Of concern and of violation of the Stolen Valor Act is the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB), especially with the star designating a second award. This was not found in Hampe’s official military records.
STOLEN VALOR
If the claims by Ty Hampe were used to leverage work, military or civilian promotions, or anything else of value, he may be in violation of Stolen Valor laws. State laws may also apply.
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PHOTOS
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SOCIAL MEDIA
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/tytish.hampe
LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ty-hampe-20706453/
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IMPORTANT UPDATE ON TY HAMPE
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Thanks to one of our research ninjas, we’ve identified the two unknown medals as Indiana State Guard. We will file for his Indiana State Guard records and refile at NPRC for a second active duty beyond what they provided us. It is possible that he could have achieved the rank of SSG, and possible he could have been in Somalia, but we don’t think it is possible that he was awarded two CIBs, so the post will stay up. Many of the schools he is claiming along with dates are not supported in the military records that we have on him.We went with his claim of being in the National Guard vs. State Guard on his LinkedIn page so it sent us in another direction since the NPRC would have had National Guard records.
Thanks to one of our research ninjas, we’ve identified the two unknown medals as Indiana State Guard. We will file for his Indiana State Guard records and refile at NPRC for a second active duty beyond what they provided us. It is possible that he could have achieved the rank of SSG, and possible he could have been in Somalia, but we don’t think it is possible that he was awarded two CIBs, so the post will stay up. Many of the schools he is claiming along with dates are not supported in the military records that we have on him.
We went with his claim of being in the National Guard vs. State Guard on his LinkedIn page so it sent us in another direction since the NPRC would have had National Guard records.
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