Announcement - Support of our brothers at SOCNET

**Ops NCO** · 07-22-2012, 06:20 AM

APO Members and Friends. Please see the following announcement from the Board, Site Staff and Association Members. Please note that, as an organization and site, we are not taking any position on the incident in question. We will leave that you your own discretion and am providing this information that so you can make your own judgments on this incident.

But, we absolutely 100% support SOCNET's right to vet and verify military service claims by people who join their site, just as we do. Integrity still counts in some places in this world. We stand with our brothers at SOCNET.

[Disclaimer (since we're putting this on our Facebook page, and want to keep our lawyer happy, since we don't really have any money to pay him with...): Any opinions on this matter shared by APO, Facebook, Twitter or other social media members or visitors are their own, and are neither condoned nor condemned by the Board and/or members of The Paratrooper Association, or the Board and/or Site Staff of Armyparatrooper.org.]

To: Armyparatrooper.org (APO) Members and Friends

From: APO Board of Directors, Site Staff and Association Members.

As you know, there are a large number of military social forums and networks on the internet today. Like most of these sites, APO welcomes and encourages participation by members around the world. However, there are a relatively small number of sites who take great care to ensure the participating membership is vetted and their service is verified. APO is, of course, one of those sites, as we require members to provide proof of service prior to being given access to secure areas of the site. Other reputable sites with similar policies include (but may not be limited to) Armyranger.com, Professionalsoldiers.com, and Socnet.com. We believe deeply that a privately held site should be able to question the integrity of anyone who makes false claims of military service. The Board of Directors, Site Staff, Association Members, and APO Membership all feel strongly that a military forum is much stronger when there are assurances that members making false claims that cannot be substantiated are no longer allowed to participate.

We recently became aware that SOCNET is being sued by a former member who allegedly made false claims and/or falsified details of his service. As a result, he was called out on this by the SOCNET staff and members, much as he would have here.

The APO Board of Directors, Site Staff and Association Members want to take this opportunity to announce our support of SOCNET and other reputable military forums in their ongoing efforts to ensure their participating membership has the same integrity that was expected of all of us who has worn (or still wears) an armed service uniform. We fully support the rights of any privately held military forum to both vet and question their membership when claims of military service are made. We feel to do any less would not only harm the integrity of the site, but would diminish the sacrifices of brave men and women who have served, fought for and died for our country.

The SOCNET staff has provided the following press release and links to more information. We must state that, as we did not have first hand involvement in the situation, we can only pass along the information and allow the membership and friends of APO to make their own decisions. But, as SOCNET is known, like APO, to be a reputable online forum, we are steadfast in announcing our support of them and their efforts to fight and resolve this situation.

Press Release
12 July 2012

Subject: Fake Green Beret Sues Military Heroes to Silence Their Criticism.

On June 11th 2012 a Colorado man, John Giduck, filed a SLAPP lawsuit in an effort to censor, intimidate and silence veterans by burdening them with the cost of a legal defense until they abandon their criticism of him. (SLAPP: "Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation."). Ironically, Mr. Giduck is suing some of the same veterans who exposed congressional candidate Ken Aden (Arkansas, 3d District) for his false claims as a Special Forces Soldier (http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/congre...5#.T_9KOXCXJUU).

The veterans, several of whom are decorated special operations personnel, questioned Mr. Giduck's claims to be a "Green Beret" and a "former Army Ranger." Mr. Giduck has made such false claims repeatedly in promotional materials for law enforcement and military seminars. This link has a timeline of Mr. Giduck's various activities and examples of his false biographical information uncovered on the web:

http://www.socnet.com/showthread.php?t=108706.

In these seminars, Mr Giduck advocates tactics, techniques and procedures that the veterans find to be fundamentally unsound and dangerous. Among them are:

--Installing knock-out gas delivery systems in public schools;
--Deploying armed teams of former Special Operations personnel in public schools as opposed to local law enforcement;
--Employing fire hoses to neutralize heavily-armed terrorists holding student hostages.

Mr. Giduck previously threatened veterans that he perceived as threats to his credibility, and he resorted to bullying legal tactics. As a response to Mr. Giduck's bullying, veterans investigated his background and learned the following:

1. Mr. Giduck has been a practicing attorney in Colorado. One of his clients was Mrs. Donna Yaklich, a woman accused--and later convicted--of murdering her husband, a Pueblo PD Police Officer. Mr. Giduck had an affair with her after her husband’s death, and enjoyed a Caribbean holiday with her that was subsidized by her husband's death benefits. Mr. Giduck's legal fees were also paid from Dennis Yaklich's death benefits. After the Pueblo PD issued a warrant for her arrest, Mrs. Yaklich returned, turned herself in, and retained better counsel after Mr. Giduck was forced to recuse himself from the case.

2. Despite multiple instances where Mr. Giduck claims a background in "Special Forces" or as an "Army Ranger," Mr. Giduck never served in the military. He actually enlisted in the Army and failed out of basic training after 58 days; yet, over the course of years, allowed claims of him being a Special Forces Soldier to be publicly posted on advertising material and his very own website. Further, Mr. Giduck's credentials as a "terrorism expert" are thin. Mr. Giduck has no practical experience or formal training in counter-terrorism aside from a recent PhD. earned from a reputable university. Mr. Giduck's books have been derided by academic reviewers and genuine specialists in counter-terrorism.

3. Mr. Giduck publicly claims that he trained with the Russian Special Forces, known as Spetsnaz, and that he has connections to the FSB. The Russian FSB is the successor to the KGB from the Soviet era. Spetsnaz is a branch of the Russian GRU, the equivalent of our Defense Intelligence Agency. This claim alarmed those veterans who are still in government service. Personnel with active security clearances are required to report contact with such persons to their security and counter-intelligence sections. This obligation is mandatory, not optional.

Additional information is available:

http://www.socnet.com/showthread.php?t=107621

http://thetruthaboutsocnetlies.wordpress.com/