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Update
01-17-2003
It appears that our investigation has uncovered a
hornet's nest in Ozark. The more we kick it, the more
hornets come out. Since my original story, I have
received numerous emails from people who have known
BJ Johnson, the vast majority of whom were either
told by him that he was a former SEAL, or have heard
it from members of their training classes or Police
Departments. In a few cases, people who have dealt
with him have refused to have anything to do with
his training. Since the story came out about his fake
SEAL issues, other departments have written to say
they will no longer train at his facility, as they
'smelled a rat' before, but did not have the evidence
to back up their gut feelings.
We
received one nice letter from a retired LAPD SWAT
Team member. He brought up a good point about liability.
In the event that any of BJ's students are called
upon to send any rounds downrange, there will be an
investigation by the defense lawyer of the perpetrator,
(or his next of kin) that will encompass every source
of training these officers ever received. In the case
where there are dubious issues resulting from their
having received training from questionable sources,
then they win. Another group we are associated with
is attempting to determine where BJ Johnson received
the training that qualified him to train these Police
Departments in SWAT techniques, etc. Before his fake
SEAL cover was blown, it was assumed that he had received
this training as a result of his service with Naval
Special Warfare. It does kinda make you wonder, doesn't
it.............?
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The
Ozark Mountain Gunfighters School, in Stone County near
Springfield, MO is another one of those 'training' operations
that teaches SWAT techniques to cops and other interested
parties. According to some of the police officers who have
attended the training, it ain't bad. They seem to know their
stuff. There's just one thing wrong with the entire scenario,
their head guy, BJ Johnson, claims to be a former SEAL who
'slit lots of throats' and was a sniper in Vietnam. He also
allegedly claimed to have the 'most hand to hand kills'
of any SEAL who served there. Considering the guy was about
13 years old when Vietnam ended, that's pretty impressive.
Of course a lot of these phony bastards don't realize that
the SEALs never used any of their own people as snipers
in Vietnam and of course BJ was a sniper there, too. Those
who have been to his house speak of medals and ribbons on
display and the continuous reference to his time with 'the
Teams.' He claims a scar on his upper thigh was from a bayonet,
when it was actually from surgery. In spite of telling almost
anybody who would listen that he was a former SEAL, he was
extremely careful not to put anything in writing on his
website. We don't know what he's told the Sheriff about
his 'military background.'
About
a month ago, I was contacted by a young police officer who
had been to some of BJ's training when he came to Portland,
Maine some time back to teach the SWAT Team a thing or two.
At the time a few of the cops in the class had some reservations
about some of the crap that BJ was slinging, but just blew
it off, as they had not been trained by a 'real Navy SEAL'
before. So he got away with it. However, one day they were
at the range doing some pistol or MP-5 work, and one of
my old buddies, Ron Damon, a former Army guy who had joined
the Navy to go to UDT back in 1958, was out there working
with them. For some reason, BJ shied away from him and did
not spend much time at all around Ron. Perhaps it was because
Ron has one of those 'bullshit filters' that has a very
fine screen. Very little of the barnyard brown passes through.
Ron goes to all the reunions and knows most all the older
team members and is in contact with some on a regular basis.
Ron asked around about this guy in Missouri who trained
SWAT Teams and claimed to be the end all of Special Operators.
(BJ also gives out a certificate in Advanced Special Operations
at his school.) Ron smelled a rat at the time, but didn't
follow through in checking him out.
A
year, or so, ago Captain Larry Bailey was contacted by a
student in college out in BJ's area. The kid told Larry
about this BJ Johnson who was a 'SEAL.' Some of the college
professors thought the sun rose and set in BJ's ass, so
the college student, who wanted to graduate from college
and go to BUD/S, didn't push the issue for fear of retaliation
for busting this 'SEAL' who was everybody's hero there.
(The student is now in BUD/S.)
So
now yours truly is involved with shaking down this guy and
making sure he's a fake. The phone rings here yesterday,
and you got it, it's BJ Johnson. He's swearing that he's
NEVER told anybody he was a SEAL and that it must be his
competition trying to put out the 'bad word' on him so he'll
lose business. Although he made no obvious threats, he implied
that he would get 'really upset' and 'take it personally'
if any of 'these lies' went out that he had said he was
a former SEAL.
In
BJ's words, "Anybody who says I have made those comments
is a liar. There are real SEALs out there, dying for our
country, why would I do something like that?" Good
question, BJ, why would you?
He's
been had now and we will do what we can to make sure the
entire law enforcement community knows about this lying
sack of shit, as we say. He may be one excellent instructor
but his lies have come back to bite him in the ass - - or
slightly to one side where he keeps his wallet. There are
enough real SEALs out there who are qualified, in most cases,
to teach SWAT operations, room clearing, Special Tactics,
etc., without having these liars running around cashing
in on these unwitting police departments.
By
the way, one of the people who exposes fakes called the
Sheriff's Department in that county, and asked for BJ. He
was out of the office, and never returned any of his several
calls, but the person who took the call was asked if BJ
was a former SEAL. According to the deputy on the phone,
he was.
If
you would like to call The Academy of Professional Trainers
and line up some training for your police department or
just say 'Hi' to ol' BJ, the phone number is 417-357-8482
and is listed on his website, if it's still up...............
Now
if any of you who are reading this have some doubt in your
mind about some 'hero' you are working with or training
under, just go here http://sec-global.com/services/ctp/vsg/
and fill out the form as completely as you can. One of us
will get back to you in short order. We actually do get
a real SEAL now and then, but it is somewhat of a rarity.
Personal
note: Our law enforcement people need the absolute best
training that is available. It is no longer a matter of
just getting trained by some operation that 'specializes'
in SWAT training and gives out fancy diplomas. The meat
of the issue is that one of these days, and probably not
too far off, the shit is going to hit the fan and these
guys are going to be called upon to engage the enemy on
our own soil. There is NO ROOM for frauds, liars and fake
SEALs, SF, or Recon types teaching this stuff. Even if they
are GREAT instructors, their credibility is shot to hell
if they pull the crap that this guy has. Put him on the
stand in a trial when he is the arresting deputy (I may
have forgotten to mention he is a deputy sheriff) and see
the defendant's lawyer tear him apart because of his lying
about his SEAL career.
If
any readers of this article have met this guy and heard
him spout off about being a SEAL, I would appreciate hearing
from them.
SteveWaterman@Justasailor.com
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