Candidate’s medal claim questioned by servicemen
A Cleveland County legislative candidate’s claim that he earned a Meritorious Service Medal while serving in the Oklahoma Air National Guard is drawing complaints from some of his fellow servicemen.
However, Aaron Stiles — who is seeking the GOP nomination for the House District 45 race — says the whole matter is a misunderstanding and that he simply referred to the wrong medal in his campaign Web site.
Stiles is involved in a heated four-way race for the Republican nomination for House District 45. Stiles faces Republicans Les White, David Hopper and Ron Henderson in the primary, set for Tuesday.
A runoff, if needed, will be Aug. 26. The eventual winner will face incumbent Democrat Wallace Collins in the Nov. 4 general election.
Earlier this month, Stiles’ campaign Web site said the 28-year-old “served our nation for eight years — earning a Meritorious Service Medal, a Humanitarian Service Medal and Served in Operation Noble Eagle after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.”
That statement drew the wrath of Stiles’ former boss, Matthew Dukes.
Dukes, a chief master sergeant in the state’s Air Guard, said Stiles falsified his military service by saying he earned the award. “I cannot and will not stand by and allow him to discredit the brave men and women of the Oklahoma Air National Guard who have served without complaint since Sept. 11,” he said.
Dukes, a Midwest City police officer, said Stiles never received the Meritorious Service Medal.
“I served with Stiles, as a matter of fact, I was his boss,” he said. “He never received the MSM; and I would know because the paperwork would have gone through me.”
Stiles said the issue is simply a mistake.
“Honestly, I didn’t know the difference between the two,” Stiles said during an interview at The Transcript office this week. “It was simply a typo, it wasn’t like I was claiming to have won the Bronze Star.”
As proof, Stiles displayed an Air Force Meritorious Achievement Service Medal, the medal, he says, he actually received.
“It was my mistake,” he said. “But I wasn’t trying to mislead anyone. It was a simple mistake.”
Since then, Stiles said he’s changed his campaign Web site to reflect the accurate name of the medal. “The site has been changed. I wanted to make sure the right medal is listed,” he said.
Dukes, however, said there were “other issues” with Stiles’ service.
“He is misrepresenting his military service,” Dukes said. “And there are too many Air National Guardsmen that have served for him to do that; he is not one of them.”
Dukes said Stiles — on two separate occasions — sought conscientious objector status so he would not have to be deployed overseas.
“Right after Sept. 11, things settled down and deployments were starting to come down,” he said. “We had received a requirement to send a team to Kuwait and all of a sudden Aaron submits a conscientious objector packet. I believe it was a subterfuge to keep from going to the desert, ’cause he was on the list.”
Not true, Stiles countered.
While Stiles confirmed he did seek the CO status, he said it was because he had “real issues” with the fact that he “might be asked to kill someone.”
“Yes, I did seek CO status,” he said. “I also did everything I was asked to do and went everywhere I was asked to go. I sought the CO status mainly because of my Christian principles.”
But it’s not true, he said, that he was trying to avoid going overseas.
“I was faced with the possibility of killing someone,” he said. “And I had serious questions about whether or not I could take someone’s life.”
Still, Duke said, the application for the CO status kept Stiles from being deployed.
“You’re not deployed while the request is being acted on,” Duke said. “So until it’s either approved or disapproved (the CO application) he was saying he can’t pick up a weapon to defend this country. He sat in an administrative role at Will Rogers while other people filled in for him and went to the desert.”
Eventually, the application was denied, Stiles said.
“Honestly, it never really entered my mind when I signed up for the service that I might have to take another person’s life. That’s why it was such a tough decision. I did it to protect the guys I was with.”
Additionally, Duke said he investigated Stiles for fraud during his tenure in the Air Guard.
“I investigated Mr. Stiles for fraud,” he said. “I did a brief investigation, found out what he was doing, and submitted the information to the Judge Advocate General (JAG).”
The investigation, Duke said, centered on whether Stiles was paying for his meals.
“When you’re in a certain status you have to pay for your meals,” he said. “But he was going over and eating and not paying for his meals, which constitutes fraud.”
Stiles said Duke has a grudge against him and that the issue was blown out of proportion.
“It was a small deal,” he said. “It was over one meal. And he placed me in cuffs and said he was charging me with fraud. People were shocked, they were completely surprised.”
In the end, Stiles said, he was never charged and only received a written reprimand. “And I didn’t even want to sign that,” he said.
However, Kenneth Ericson, who is serving in Iraq, said Duke’s information is accurate.
“I served with Mr. Stiles,” Ericson said in an e-mailed statement to The Transcript. “He was involuntarily mobilized and deployed stateside under Operation Noble Eagle, which was only stateside. I was deployed with him at this time. While deployed he did everything he could think of to get home after he found that there was a chance we could be forward deployed overseas.”
Stiles, Ericson said, was investigated for fraud because he repeatedly didn’t pay for meals.
“He was required to pay for meals he ate at the Base dining facility,” Ericson said. “He was investigated and it was found that even after being told this, he still ate there without paying for (those) meals.”
Other servicemen, however, support Stiles’ claim.
Jack Clark, an Air Guard member who says he served with Stiles, said Duke was out to wreck Stiles’ career.
“That base is a joke,” he said. “Aaron didn’t do anything wrong; he did what I did: He used the Guard to go to OU. Duke didn’t like him and would do whatever he could to wreck Stiles’ career. This is absolutely wrong, Duke has his own demons.”
Former Air Guard Chief Master Sergeant Bob Spinks praised Stiles’ record.
“Aaron is led by strong Christian values and a duty to serve others,” Spinks said. “His heart is in service to his country, not to himself. I would proudly serve with Aaron Stiles again.”
Still, Stiles said he can’t explain why Dukes and others would have issues with his campaign.
“I don’t want to speculate,” he said. “He (Dukes) and I used to be friends, but something happened and since that time we haven’t gotten along. But I can tell you this: I will be filing a defamation suit against him.”
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