Special Forces phoney Phil Haberman [Archive]

Team Sergeant

07-21-2007, 04:50

G.I. Jerk

Phil Haberman claims he fought with special forces in Iraq, but he's about as real as Rambo

By Glenna Whitley
Published: September 1, 2005

She spotted her blind date right away: the clean-cut guy in the black T-shirt that said Special Forces.

Phil Haberman attended a court hearing in Las Vegas on August 3, 2005. His beret features the crest of Special Forces.

Kristen Rhoad with daughter Heather.Kristen Rhoad had first come into contact with Phil Haberman on Match.com in December 2003. One screen name he favored was 19thSFguy--an allusion to his role in Army Special Forces. A self-described adrenaline junkie who loved everything from "skydiving to swimming with sharks," Haberman listed his income as $50,000 to $75,000 a year and claimed he didn't party, smoke or drink.

He sounded honorable, manly, stable.

Everything that Rhoad, 38 and between jobs, was looking for--and everything that had eluded her so far in serious relationships. Rhoad worked as a legal secretary in Las Vegas to support herself and her 13-year-old daughter Heather. When times were lean, though, like they were now, Rhoad resorted to waiting tables or dancing as "Sedona" at a strip club.

Soon after they met in a casino restaurant, Rhoad and Haberman were chatting like best friends. Haberman, born and raised in Dallas, said he rarely talked to his family "because they didn't believe anything he said." His new home was Key West.

Haberman said he'd joined the Marines in 1989 but had been forced to leave in 1998 after a diving accident almost cost him his life. After his recovery, Haberman said, he'd joined Army Special Forces and was now a sniper and a crypto-linguist, trained in technology to decipher foreign languages.

Listening to his military exploits, Rhoad felt drawn to Haberman, then 31. Short, with big brown eyes and crew-cut brown hair, the soldier had a teddy-bearish quality but carried himself with confidence.

"He asked me what I wanted to do with my life--what my living situation was with my daughter, how long I had been divorced," Rhoad says. Haberman didn't ask her income, but quizzed her about other things: Did she own a house? Was it well-furnished? What about a boat?

When Rhoad said that she lived in a townhouse in a gated community and had two dogs, Haberman's eyes turned pleading. He'd volunteered to go to Iraq, and his dog Jake, a rare Dogo Argentino, needed a place to live while he was gone. "I'd be willing to pay you," Haberman said. Rhoad agreed to take Jake. It was the least she could do for a soldier going to war.

Days later, both Jake and Haberman had moved into her townhouse.

After about a month, an excited Haberman announced he had orders to report to Fort Bragg for training and deployment to Iraq. "He said, 'Let's get married,'" Rhoad says. He'd send her money for rent, plus she'd get military spouse benefits.

"I thought I was in love with him," Rhoad says. "He made me believe everything was perfect, he was going to take care of me."

Hours after they exchanged vows on January 10, 2004, at the Las Vegas courthouse, Haberman piled his belongings into his car. Rhoad was terrified for her new husband, but Haberman viewed it as his job to personally exterminate all the terrorists. As he headed off to North Carolina, Haberman promised to send her dead Iraqis' ears on a string.

Their hasty marriage, however, quickly hit the rocks. By March, when Haberman shipped out to Iraq, they were constantly fighting. Then in April, Rhoad got a call from Haberman, at a hospital in Germany. He said he'd gotten "blown up" by a rocket-propelled grenade while riding in a convoy. His leg and intestines were "messed up bad." Rhoad had been ready to end the marriage but felt she had to stand beside him.

For more than a year now, Haberman has been at Womack Medical Center at Fort Bragg on "medical hold" while undergoing treatment. He sports a Purple Heart "Combat Wounded" ribbon on the bumper of his car. In May 2004, WFAA-Channel 8 aired a story about wounded Special Forces soldier Haberman visiting the journalism class at his alma mater, Richardson High School. He'd written a series of stories about the war for the paper, which inspired the class to collect items to send to troops in Iraq.

Rhoad now believes Haberman married her to get increased benefits as a married soldier, though he kept most of the money for himself. Then Rhoad began to wonder: Was Haberman really in Special Forces? Was he really wounded in Iraq?

Because of privacy laws, confirming that a soldier was wounded in combat is difficult. When the Dallas Observer asked Haberman for permission to obtain his full military record, he refused. "I'm not going to have any feeling in my abdomen or in my left foot for the rest of my life!" Haberman snapped. "I didn't pay the ultimate price, but there are guys in my unit who did pay the ultimate price. This is an insult to them!"

A high-ranking officer who'd befriended Haberman called to defend him. "This is a witch hunt," said the officer, who asked not to be identified. A month later he was calling Haberman "full of half-truths."

Haberman, enraged that anyone would question his military credentials, nonetheless agreed to an interview on base at Fort Bragg, home of the 82nd Airborne and the Army Special Operations Command. Now seeking an annulment of their marriage, Haberman claims Rhoad is an "ID card chaser"--a woman who marries a soldier just for benefits--out to ruin his military career. He insists his job now is to "heal up" so he can return to fight in Iraq.

"They were going to retire me from the military," Haberman says. "I told them I did not want to get out. I love being in special operations."

Trying to find out more about the man she married, Rhoad learned that Jake had made the rounds, helping Haberman get sympathy, money and affection from a string of women. He's lied about his rank, about his role with Special Forces and about what happened to him in Iraq, where he served less than a month. Haberman claims he's been granted the Purple Heart; if so, it was for a bad fall on his butt.

When times were lean, Rhoad danced as "Sedona."

Andrew Isbell wore his army uniform to court, complete with two Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart. He never saw combat.But he's not just a wannabe warrior looking for respect. Haberman has preyed upon people trying to help the troops, taking advantage of their kindness.

War Stories

In the wake of every war, those who fight it tell tales. Exaggerations are common, even expected, especially as the war retreats into distant memory. But some soldiers go to war and bring back tales of heroism that never happened. And sometimes people who never went pretend they are veterans who put their lives on the line for their country.

I first became aware of this phenomenon while writing Stolen Valor with co-author B.G. Burkett, a Vietnam veteran. Published in 1998, our book outlines the myths and stereotypes about soldiers who fought or served in Vietnam. Using the Freedom of Information Act, we obtained the military records of more than 1,500 "image-makers," men who appeared in the press and often reinforced the image of the soldier who returned home traumatized by all he had seen and done in combat. More than 75 percent of the time, these image-makers were phonies. Either they had never served in Vietnam or they had wildly exaggerated their deeds and misdeeds, claiming that they were SEALS, Special Forces, covert operatives and POWs. In short: Rambo.

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Team Sergeant

07-21-2007, 04:51

This is so rampant that several individuals and groups have networked together to expose the phonies, including Burkett, Captain Larry Bailey (a retired Navy SEAL), VeriSEAL.org, the Special Forces Association and POWnetwork.org (run by Chuck and Mary Schantag). They refer criminal cases to a handful of FBI agents who have experience in military investigations.

Hollywood is starting to recognize the phenomenon. This summer, a Web site promoting the movie Wedding Crashers posted a printable "Purple Heart" as part of its "crasher kit" guaranteed to help freeloaders snag gratis booze and pick up women: "To get one of these babies, some dudes have to prove their physical, mental, and spiritual strength with great feats of bravery on the battlefield. All you need to do is press the button below." An uproar from veterans prompted the promoters to pull the gag.

It has long been a federal crime to buy, sell, trade or falsely wear a Medal of Honor. In July, Representative John Salazar (D-Colorado) introduced the "Stolen Valor Act of 2005" in Congress to expand the law to certain high-level combat decorations and the Purple Heart. There's a move to extend the act to make it illegal to falsely claim any military medals or decorations.

After 9/11, the first wave of wannabe warriors claiming service in Afghanistan and Iraq started showing up:

• Thomas Larez: In December 2001, Channel 8 ran a story about this Dallas soldier, who claimed a record of heroism in Afghanistan. The newscast, based on a "Marine advisory" written by his commanding officer, said that Sergeant Larez pulled an injured soldier to safety, and then, despite his own combat wounds, killed seven Taliban soldiers. WFAA retracted the story after learning Larez had concocted the advisory himself. He'd never left the United States.

• Stephen Emmons: In the middle of an Alabama college basketball game in December 2001, the announcer introduced Navy Petty Officer Emmons, 26, as a "diver hero." Emmons claimed he disarmed underwater mines in the Arabian Sea and accompanied other divers to Afghanistan in support of a SEAL unit. After his story was printed in the Mobile Register, the SEAL community outed Emmons as a fraud. He wasn't a diver, and he'd never served in the Arabian Sea or Afghanistan. Petty Officer Emmons was a submarine sonar man.

• Andrew Isbell: During his August 2004 trial for drug possession in Rockport, Texas, Sergeant Andrew Isbell wore his Army uniform with two Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart. After testifying that he was home on medical leave after being wounded on patrol in Baghdad, Isbell was acquitted. Tipped by an observer who questioned the way his medals were arranged, investigators discovered Isbell was a private who served as a cook. He never saw combat and had been discharged after going AWOL. (Isbell was charged with aggravated perjury.)

• Justin McCauley: From Rosemont, California, McCauley told the Sacramento Bee he was a Navy SEAL wounded in Afghanistan in 2002. The Bee later retracted the story. McCauley was actually an aviation ordnance man who served on an aircraft carrier.

• Lisa Jane Phillips: Officials at Meredith College in North Carolina waived $42,178 in tuition for Captain Phillips after she returned from serving as an Air Force pilot in Iraq and Afghanistan. In January 2005, Phillips wore her uniform--adorned with a Bronze Star and Purple Heart--to class and told elaborate stories of her heroism. The campus police chief, a Vietnam veteran, got suspicious because one of the medals on Phillips' uniform was from WWII. He called in federal investigators, who charged Phillips with impersonating an officer and a dozen other federal crimes. She had never served in the military.

• Sarah Kenney: A woman in Grand Junction, Colorado, called a radio station in August 2004 using the name Amber Kenney, saying she was a National Guard soldier leaving for basic training and that her husband Jonathan was already fighting in Iraq. Kenney called in frequently with many details about their lives. In February 2005, Kenney contacted the media to say that her husband had been killed leaping in front of a bullet to save an Iraqi child. After an organization called Hometown Heroes sent a fax confirming the death, news outlets ran the story. But an investigation by a local newspaper revealed that Kenney's name was Sarah, not Amber. She'd never served in the National Guard, nor had her husband Michael, who was alive and managing a fast-food restaurant. Confronted, Kenney said, "I feel like an ass." She pleaded guilty to criminal impersonation and received probation.

G.I. Jerk
Continued from page 2
Published: September 1, 2005

• James D. Johnson: For years, North Carolina resident Johnson, now 49, told of his exploits as a Navy SEAL. After 9/11, Johnson told one woman who'd known him for 26 years that he'd been called to active duty in Iraq and asked her to marry him when he returned from combat. According to The Charlotte Observer, Johnson paid her a surprise visit in 2003 wearing camouflage and dusty combat boots, saying he was on leave from Iraq. Then the girlfriend discovered Johnson was romancing other women with his tales of derring-do. The newspaper found that Johnson was an insurance adjuster who had served in the Navy during the '70s as a petty officer; he'd never been a SEAL.

Jake, a Dogo Argentino, made the rounds, eliciting sympathy--and money and affection--from a string of women who fell for Haberman.

Haberman claimed he had designed a special mask for paratroopers. Here, he poses next to a mannequin at the Special Operations Museum in Fayetteville, N.C.Some wannabes use their status as veterans to garner sympathy, to get ahead in their careers or to manipulate their loved ones. Other phonies go to extremes such as forging documents to lay claim to combat decorations and veterans' benefits they haven't earned.

The Observer found that Phil Haberman's military claims are just one facet of a life lived in fantasy and deception.

Love Me, Love My Dog

Rhoad wonders if she would have been as supportive of Haberman if it weren't for Jake. Rhoad loved dogs; she owned purebred Akitas.

After their first lunch, Haberman explained that a friend had given him a fresh-caught tuna and invited himself over to cook dinner for Rhoad and her daughter. But after the meal, Haberman got a phone call that Rhoad could tell was from an angry female. He explained that she'd been keeping Jake but was fed up with the dog and had taken him to the pound.

The next morning Rhoad went with Haberman to rescue Jake. Seeing cuts and scrapes on the animal, Haberman "totally freaked out," Rhoad says. Though he didn't have proof of immunizations, Haberman insisted Jake was a military dog and threatened to sue the shelter because the animal was injured. The shelter released the dog and apologized to Haberman.

Within days, Haberman had shifted gear--dog, duffel bag and white Mustang convertible--to Rhoad's townhouse. He seemed like a career soldier. Most of his clothes were military issue or shirts that said Special Forces. He sported a large tattoo of a Marine bulldog on his right arm. Other screen names he used included ForceReconMarine and usmcdog4u. She later found out he was an E-4 (Specialist, a grade higher than Private First Class).

Haberman never seemed to have any money, because the military "had messed up his pay," but he had dreams. A member of the Screen Actors Guild, Haberman had walk-on roles in the TV show JAG and movies such as High Crimes and Scorpion King. His résumé listed "11 years Marine reconnaissance" and experience as a "combat tactical expert," "in-water trauma medic" and "weapons specialist."

Another undertaking was more outrageous: woodyreview.com, where a clothed Haberman, sporting an erection, posed as "Woody Hunter"--promoting reviews of porn sites. (Haberman says "Woody Hunter" was just a photo gig.)

Haberman's biggest project, however, was going to make him a fortune. He'd redesigned a Gentex oxygen mask/helmet for Special Operations paratroopers who did "high-altitude/low opening" jumps. Already, one branch of the military had placed orders for 10,000 of the masks, and Haberman would make 3 percent profit on sales.

One day Haberman and Rhoad drove to the naval base at China Lake, California, where he presented the mask to some highly skilled jumpers. That night, the military personnel

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Team Sergeant

07-21-2007, 04:51

took Haberman and Rhoad out for dinner. She was impressed, though Haberman insisted anyone he married would have to sign a prenuptial agreement that any profits were his separate property.

Rhoad had hoped Haberman would be a positive influence for Heather, whose father hadn't been involved in her life. But Heather hated the soldier, who thought she was an undisciplined brat. At Haberman's insistence, Rhoad sent Heather to a girls' camp, then to a relative's home. She wanted to give the relationship with Haberman a chance.

Everything seemed to be going well until their wedding day, when he left for several months of training at Fort Bragg. "I gave him $300 from my unemployment, packed him a lunch, and he was gone," Rhoad says.

He called 24 hours later to say he was staying in Texas with a female friend--and could she send him more money? That's when Rhoad started having second thoughts. She'd found his communications with other women on her computer. When she flew to Fort Bragg to get her military dependent's ID card on January 17, Haberman's birthday, they fought over her suspicions that he was already cheating on her.

Rhoad was surprised when Haberman gave her address as Key West on the military documents. Haberman insisted that since it was his home of record, it was hers as well. Rhoad later discovered Haberman had at least a half-dozen addresses. His car was registered in Texas, but he also had addresses in California and North Carolina. She learned that the Army's basic housing allowance (BAH) for Key West was one of the highest in the country.

By marrying Rhoad, Haberman would receive about $550 extra each month in BAH plus $250 "separation pay" each month while he lived away from home. But Rhoad says Haberman wasn't sending her much money.

Haberman told her he'd had prostate cancer and was unable to father children, so Rhoad was shocked to learn in February that she was pregnant. He insisted she take an herbal potion to trigger an abortion; Rhoad refused, but a few weeks later she miscarried. "I was relieved," she says.

After the miscarriage, Haberman flew to Las Vegas on emergency leave. They made a stab at marriage counseling. "I was nonstop crying," Rhoad says. But the session ended in disaster, Rhoad says, after Haberman told the therapist that he'd served on Secret Service detail in the Clinton White House. When the counselor challenged him, Rhoad says, Haberman erupted in anger.

Though Rhoad had stayed on base with Haberman in a hotel at Fort Bragg, she began wondering if he was really in the military and confronted him. Haberman's teddy-bear look gave way to fury. He insisted that he was an Army Special Forces staff sergeant. "It was scary," Rhoad says.

Later in February, the couple got into a fight that turned physical. Rhoad took several Xanax and went to sleep, only to wake up in the emergency room.

Haberman had told the doctors she tried to commit suicide because he was going to Iraq and insisted that she be committed involuntarily. Rhoad admits she was depressed but says she hadn't tried to kill herself. Released three days later, Rhoad discovered that Jake had trashed her house, defecating everywhere. Several months later, in June, she filed a series of complaints with the Henderson, Nevada, police against Haberman alleging "sexual assault, battery and coercion." An investigator talked to Haberman, who said the sex was consensual and that she was just trying to get him in trouble. No action was taken.

Phil Haberman was on "medical hold" at Fort Bragg for more than a year.As their relationship disintegrated, Rhoad filed repeated complaints with Haberman's commanding officer. Estimating the relationship had cost her more than $20,000, she went after the BAH payments with a vengeance.

Beware the pissed-off female with paralegal skills.

Haberman fought back, alleging that Rhoad had committed unemployment fraud and was determined to ruin his military career.

Even amidst the bitterness, though, they continued to communicate by e-mail after Haberman was deployed to Iraq.

Respect

When he heard about the Channel 8 news story on his adoptive brother Phil that ran in May 2004, Adam Haberman was dismayed. The story centered on "Sergeant Phil Haberman, a Special Forces soldier" who'd served in Iraq and had been "badly hurt during a rocket attack." Phil was featured returning to Richardson High School, where he'd graduated in 1990. For several months, he'd been writing letters to the journalism class about training at Fort Bragg and "the war, the loneliness and helping the Iraqi people." The letters, published in the school newspaper, had inspired the class to gather "Stuff for Soldiers." They had three dozen boxes ready to be shipped to Iraq.

Adam didn't believe a word of it and called reporter Bill Brown to say he'd been scammed.

Now a researcher at UT Southwestern Medical School, Adam says that from the time he was a hyperactive child, Phil had told wild stories. "He was always lying to get attention," Adam says. "He shows no remorse [about the lies] and doesn't remember his stories six months later."

Richardson High School held enormous significance for Phil. As a youngster, he'd struggled with learning difficulties and was always in trouble. But at RHS he blossomed, Adam says, getting in shape by biking and becoming known as a photographer for the school yearbook.

Phil and his father took scuba diving classes together and got certified. As with everything he did, Phil became obsessed with the ocean. "I don't know how many Jacques Cousteau shows we watched," Adam says. "When something interests him, he puts a lot of attention to it."

To the family's surprise, Phil joined the Marines as soon as he graduated from high school. His family went to San Diego for his graduation from boot camp. Adam says Phil graduated a week later than his class. "He was a 'sick bay' soldier," Adam says, "always in the infirmary. But he got a lot of respect as a Marine."

When Adam heard about Channel 8's story, he flashed back to the time of Desert Storm, when Phil was in the Marines. "We got a staticky call from him, and he said he was in Iraq," Adam says. "I believed it. He came home after the war, and he was full of stories about Iraq. He was the center of attention when he went to school to talk about it." The family later learned that during the first Gulf War, Phil was training as a flight mechanic, hadn't left the United States and had been disciplined for going AWOL.

According to his Marine record, Haberman served from June 19, 1990, to October 2, 1991, receiving a general, "other than honorable" discharge as a private after 15 months of service. A note in the record says that he was released for misconduct and minor disciplinary actions and that his problems stemmed from "gross immaturity in dealing with the realities of adult situations." ("I was an immature punk," Haberman says. Since then, he adds, he's "grown up.") Haberman had no special operations training during his stint in the Marines.

Long after his time in the Marines ended, Haberman continued to sport the uniform, even wearing it on a TV game show. (His current head shot for acting gigs shows Haberman in a Marine uniform adorned with awards he didn't receive.) Haberman hopped around the country but rarely seemed to have a full-time job. He began telling his family he worked undercover for the DEA, but they viewed his stories with increasing skepticism.

"I've felt like since Desert Storm, the lies have gotten more and more ridiculous," Adam says. After Phil began telling people that he'd been abused as a child, the family wanted less and less to do with him. Adam denies Phil was ever a victim of child abuse. "My parents did everything for him." Adam, however, says he's tried to keep communications with Phil open because he believes his brother needs psychological help.

In 2000 or 2001, Adam was living in Baltimore, pursuing a Ph.D. in cell biology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, when he got a call from his brother. Phil was getting married in Colorado in a few weeks and wanted Adam to attend the wedding. His fiancée was a flight attendant and could get Adam a free ticket.

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Team Sergeant

07-21-2007, 04:52

Adam agreed to go, but the next week Phil called again to say his fiancée had died of cancer. In succeeding calls the story grew even more outlandish: His fiancée wasn't dead after all; one of his relatives had lied to him. She'd inherited $665 million, but he needed money to fly to see her because she was being prevented from spending any of her inheritance.

The last time he saw Phil in person, Adam says, was two or three years ago in Baltimore. Phil brought out a picture of himself with about 100 Army troops and said he'd joined the Army Reserve.

Because of his "other than honorable" discharge from the Marines, Haberman had to obtain a waiver to join the Army Reserve. He served in the Nevada National Guard from August 12 to October 8, 2002, and then apparently transferred to the California guard.

He said he was on medical leave because he got slapped upside a helicopter," Adam says. "But he looked perfectly fine. He didn't complain about any injuries." (Phil says he sustained a concussion.) At some point, he transferred to the Utah National Guard, where there was a Special Forces unit. A source with the UNG said that Phil started but didn't finish their Special Forces Qualification training.

Though he rarely saw his family, Haberman often returned to RHS to visit his old journalism teacher. After she retired, he formed a friendship in 2000 with the new teacher, Robin Johnson, dropping by at least once a year. Johnson, who no longer works for RHS, couldn't be reached for comment, but in an e-mail to Rhoad, she described her experience with Haberman.

In January 2004, Haberman stopped by, explained he was shipping off to Iraq and proposed sending back photos and letters so they could publish them in the school newspaper. The stories he sent from March through May are well-written but florid and self-aggrandizing.

During this period Haberman would sometimes call Johnson three or four times a day. In April, he asked the class to collect items for him and "the guys" in Iraq. Soon the whole school was involved, with teachers giving extra credit to kids who participated.

In early May, Haberman returned and told the class about his injury under fire. On a second trip, without asking the teacher's or school's permission, he called Channel 8 News to come to the school. He told reporter Bill Brown he was with Special Forces but didn't want that in the story "for security reasons."

Though he loves his brother, Adam thought the students deserved the truth. So he called Brown and told him he didn't believe Phil was in the Army Special Forces or that he'd been injured in Iraq. (The interview never aired; Brown left WFAA without being able to finish his research into Haberman's military record.)

Adam was surprised to learn that Phil really had joined the reserve, then had been called to active duty and deployed to Iraq. As a Marine during the first Gulf War, Phil got respect as a warrior. After 9/11, he went looking for that same respect in the Army Reserve, jumping from guard unit to guard unit, determined to get to the war. But in volunteering for Iraq, Phil got more than he bargained for.

War Sucks

On March 7, 2004, Haberman sent his first story to the school newspaper about "Validation" training at Fort Bragg. He described himself as a member of the 19th Special Forces Group with the U.S. Army, attached to the 30th Enhanced Separate Brigade, a support group out of the North Carolina National Guard, on a 12- to 16-month rotation "into the heart of Iraq and the Sunni Triangle."

"I traded in my now familiar Special Forces arrowhead with Airborne tab for the 30th ESB patch," he said about donning his new desert fatigues.

Haberman outlines his military jobs as "weapons specialist, communications specialist, infantry soldier, and Airborne Paratrooper," but concedes "the job I do is not glamorous. It is required...I volunteered for combat duty knowing full well the inherent risks associated with it. I love what I do and would not trade it for the world." But privately he complained to Rhoad that he was loading pallets, a job he considered far below his qualifications. Then his unit deployed without him.

On March 16, he e-mailed Rhoad that he was in Frankfurt waiting for a flight to Kuwait. His next missive to the high school came from Iraq. Reading between the lines of his stories, it is clear Haberman was a marginal soldier at best. While his unit deployed to Balad, he was left behind for five days to palletize gear. Haberman turned that into an asset.

"This was the one time that knowing how to pack a flight cargo load to USAF standards was paying off," Haberman wrote. "Out of the 264 of us there, I was the only one that knew how to do it."

Five days later he finally reached FOB (Forward Operating Base) Caldwell in Northern Iraq. He described sleeping in a tent with a wooden floor and no running water in the 120-degree heat. They had no laundry facilities, and everyone stank. All of them were required to be in body armor and Kevlar helmets everywhere they went--a reminder that all American troops, no matter what their jobs, are at risk in Iraq.

"This place SUCKS!!!!!!!" Haberman e-mailed Rhoad on March 23. "No one wants me in their units. NO one wanted me to even come here. So they are making life as miserable for me as possible until they can find something to do with me...We don't have power here, a chow hall, exchange, running water, and only 10 port a johns for 1,300 people. I hate it here for now."

A few days later, Haberman e-mailed Rhoad, "I'm getting fucked over so badly here it isn't even funny. They took my ammo from me and put me with the cooks. I'm desperately trying to get out of the 120th and go to the 113th. Someone shattered my box top [his personal trunk] and poured dirt and rocks into the box...So life is sucking HARD for me..."

He blamed Rhoad's complaints for his being unable to take leave--though he'd only been there a few days. Still, he kept up the correspondence. "I need Gatorade powder BADLY here," he e-mailed Rhoad. "I had to go to Medical yesterday to get fluids via IV. I had a 22 hour work day yesterday on KP. I put in transfer requests with other units and am waiting to hear back today who will take me."

Haberman called Rhoad four times from Iraq, complaining that they wouldn't let him do "his job" as a sniper and had lost his scuba gear, which he needed to work as a "body dredger" in the Tigris River. One call came from a tent where a webcam was set up so families could see their soldiers as they talked. "He looked scared to death," Rhoad says. "He said he was sleeping in dirt, dug-out holes in the ground." Haberman said he was sick of MREs; nothing in Iraq was as he expected.

Haberman's last epistle to the paper was an elaborate story about his combat injury, which occurred on April 9, 2004. "As I sit here in my hospital bed reflecting on everything that has happened over the last few months, I have to say one thing...WAR SUCKS!!!"

He described boarding a convoy that was to take him three hours away to LSA Anaconda "for a routine doctor's appointment" for a "prior diagnosed issue." (A lump in his testicle, Haberman says. A source from the North Carolina National Guard says Haberman was on his way to a psychiatric evaluation.)

"Almost to Camp Anaconda, I heard 'LOOK OUT!!!!!!!' All I know is we hit a pothole or something in the road avoiding what I was told was a rocket propelled grenade that had been launched at us. We hit that bump and I was launched up in the air and came down log style straddling a sandbag between my legs." As his body armor crunched into him, "the pain was immediate and pronounced."

Haberman provided the Observer an affidavit from "Staff Sergeant R.S. Smith" which he obtained a year later in support of his request for a Purple Heart. "Because [rank redacted] Haberman was in so much pain, we made our way to the CSH [the hospital] to have him looked at...When I was outside the tent I saw Haberman coming back from the toilets...he said he was bleeding rectally pretty badly. The next morning Haberman and I were taken to the CSH along with a couple of other soldiers. Haberman was in the ER a lot that day and he told me that they were sending him to Germany to get medical help."

Not included in the affidavit was Haberman's explanation of what happened while he was in the ER in Iraq and casualties started pouring in from the field.

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Team Sergeant

07-21-2007, 04:53

"I forgot about the pain and asked them if there was anything I could do to help them since I was a medic back home," Haberman wrote in a letter to RHS. "My first job was to help unload casualties from the ambulances when they came in. My life was never going to be the same again." He said he worked all day in the ER and gives graphic descriptions of men's wounds, claiming he conferred with the docs to figure out what had caused one man's wounds.

Hours later, Haberman boarded a C-141 transport plane for the flight to Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany with other wounded troops. "These 43 other men with me all shared something that very few of us ever will share," Haberman wrote. "We shared an understanding of what we had just been through. What we had been through was hell."

After what appear to be 24 days in the Middle East, Haberman got a ticket home from suffering a fall on his tush. During that period, 106 American troops died in Iraq.

Fighting Mad

For almost 17 months, Haberman has been on "medical hold" with Delta Company at Womack Army Medical Center, a beautiful new facility at Fort Bragg. He claims he still suffers from injuries to his abdomen, knee and foot. He says he's had nine surgeries and more are scheduled.

As Haberman walks around the hospital, occasionally grimacing in pain, he is careful to refer to himself as serving in "Special Operations," a term that can encompass support units as well as Special Forces. (Haberman later admitted he wasn't "Special Forces qualified," meaning he hadn't completed the extremely rigorous training required to be a part of these elite units. His unit was simply attached to a Special Forces unit.)

To prove his expertise as a paratrooper, from a duffel bag Haberman pulls out the Gentex high-altitude parachuting mask and explains that he has been working on modifications to the mask for seven years with a government contractor, which he refuses to name. (A Gentex spokesman says Haberman has never been an employee, was not involved in modifications and is not authorized to represent or sell the masks.)

To prove she is out to ruin him, Haberman holds up a tape recorder and plays phone messages from Rhoad, who now lives in San Diego. Rhoad sounds increasingly histrionic, like an angry woman screeching into a vacuum because Haberman has blocked her calls and e-mails. "How can I divorce your stupid ass if I don't know where you are at?" she complains at one point.

Their marriage erupted in nuclear warfare when Haberman returned to Fort Bragg; he filed for an annulment in July 2004. None of Rhoad's accusations against Haberman resulted in criminal charges, but her constant complaints to his commanding officer prompted disciplinary actions. As a result, according to one military source, Haberman was demoted one rank for impersonating a higher-ranking officer.

Rhoad didn't believe he'd been seriously hurt in Iraq. In an e-mail to Rhoad soon after he left Iraq, Haberman complained "they are so infinite in their wisdom that they are saying pre-existing and no Purple Heart for me...But to be honest with you, after seeing everything that I have in the past week, I don't deserve it based on my minor injuries. The guy I saw cut in half deserves it and a lot more. I never thought...that it would be as bad as it is."

His injuries weren't slowing Haberman down. After arriving in Germany, he'd e-mailed Rhoad that he was going to Switzerland and Belgium on a hospital-organized sightseeing tour for the wounded. In May he went to Texas. That June, Rhoad was surprised to get an e-mail from a cousin in Massachusetts saying that Haberman had visited her while he was near Boston for some treatment. They'd gone to a karaoke bar together, and "They gave him a big round of applause and thanked him for what he did in Iraq," her cousin wrote.

While researching her husband's past, Rhoad discovered that despite Haberman's claims that he made $50,000 to $70,000, he'd never reported to the IRS earning more than about $12,000 a year. She found a trail of women who had agreed to help him because he was a soldier. Some took care of his dog Jake or did other favors. Several women had good experiences with him and thought Rhoad was being selfish and demanding. Others felt used and abused by Haberman.

"I don't even know you and I went and spent $200 to get your damn dog out and you haven't even so much as said thank you," one woman told him by instant message.

A female officer at Fort Bragg e-mailed Rhoad that after she agreed to take care of Jake, the dog bit a child and Haberman wouldn't reimburse her for expenses. "I hope you can do something about Phil, he is definitely poison...Phil is a liar and thinks the world revolves around him...Phil is to check into the hospital this evening...for a torn prostate or so he says. He is under the impression that they are sending him back to Iraq...someone needs to know of his instability..."

Haberman finagled $400 out of a group called Soldier's Angels by complaining that the group's volunteers had run up his cell phone bill. "Between the $400 and the lies, oh my gosh," says Viktoria Carter, Soldier's Angels' former national director, who is married to a Special Forces soldier. Then Haberman turned abusive toward her. "It got to the point where we went and bought me a gun," Carter says.

Other women met Haberman through Match.com or other dating sites. After his return, he updated his "OceanLuvnGuy" profile on Militarysingles.com, checking "single; never been married" and adding: "I was wounded in Iraq and have a lot of free time on my hands now. I'm healing up from my wounds...and am currently with Army Special Forces."

That's how Bonny Bentley met him. "He was complaining, 'no one's come to see me, my family has disowned me,'" says Bentley, a successful 42-year-old woman who lives in Atlanta. Feeling sorry for him, Bentley flew to Fort Bragg in October 2004 for the weekend.

When Haberman picked her up at the airport, he was limping and looked pitiful. "He was very wounded abdominally," Bentley said. "His prostate was torn. He was in bad shape."

But his wounds didn't preclude romance. Bentley ruefully admits she had sex with him.

Though he had a billet in a hotel on base, Haberman lived in a nice house with a pool that he and a female roommate rented in Fayetteville. "He didn't want the military to know he wasn't living on base," Bentley says. As the weekend progressed, Haberman told her he was going through a horrible annulment and was being prosecuted for AWOL because his wife had complained to his commander. Could he borrow $5,000 for attorney's fees?

"I felt sorry for him," Bentley says. "Here's this poor soldier wounded in Iraq, and the military was doing him a great injustice." She wired him the money the next week.

But when Bentley e-mailed Haberman a request to sign a statement saying he would pay the money back, he turned on her in anger, saying she was "just like all the rest." He ended all contact, Bentley says. In early August, Bentley filed a lawsuit against Haberman for fraud. Bentley says, "I can't believe I fell for this shit."

A Purple Heart and More

On operationwoundedsoldier.org, donors can click Paypal and for $30 send a soldier a care package. Based at Fort Stewart, Georgia, the site says more than 2,700 "frontline" soldiers have signed up to be adopted, but Haberman's account of his combat injury is the only personal story posted.

Service members' medical records cannot be released under the Freedom of Information Act. Haberman provided the affidavit from Staff Sergeant R.S. Smith, who described the rocket-propelled grenade being fired at the convoy, the truck swerving and Haberman landing on the sandbags. But he refused to provide the sergeant's full name and location so that the document could be independently verified, or to provide the name of his commanding officer in Iraq. Captain Kevin Clark, his current commanding officer, did not return phone calls.

But doctors' notes Haberman submitted in annulment proceedings indicate his diagnosis was a hernia, anal pain and rectal bleeding. He also complains of damage to his foot and knee. Haberman underwent surgery to correct the hernia on June 19, 2004. A document signed by Dr. Marjory Cannon determines that Haberman's injury was incurred in the line of duty and likely to result in a claim against the government for future medical care.

http://www.dallasobserver.com/2005-09-01/news/g-i-jerk/1

Team Sergeant

07-21-2007, 04:54

"As you saw in those documents, the government has determined I'm going to have a permanent partial disability," Haberman says. He claims he was offered medical retirement, giving him a service-connected disability rating of "at least" 30 percent (allowing him to receive 30 percent of his pay for the rest of his life.) But Haberman says he turned it down to stay in the military because "I love what I do."

As he discusses the intricacies of the military disability compensation system, it is clear that there's another reason he's stayed in the military. If Haberman starts the medical board proceedings now, he can't stop them. But the longer he waits, the more disabled he becomes. "Now they have to remove the nerve from my foot," Haberman says. "I could get 50 percent. They could say I'm not going to get anything. I'm not going to take that chance."

Haberman also says he's been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder for all the carnage he witnessed in Iraq. "No one knows how long that takes to go away," Haberman says. That diagnosis might jack his disability rating well over 50 percent.

Haberman says he will soon be leaving medical hold at Fort Bragg to be released to the Inactive Reserve; his enlistment is up in January 2006. He's going to have to get a job. But Haberman still fantasizes about being a warrior. By e-mail, he asked the Observer not to print a story about him, because the publicity and printing of his photo would render him unable to serve in Special Operations in the future.

"What you don't understand is that any American that can pick up that paper and read it, the same goes for a 'Haaji' [Iraqi] that is looking to further his cause and to try to kill Americans," Haberman says. "And Hamas has a large following in Dallas, and al Qaeda has an operations center in Arlington, if you didn't already know that."

Maybe Haberman should have considered that before posting his picture and his story on the Internet.

http://www.dallasobserver.com/2005-09-01/news/g-i-jerk/1

Team Sergeant

07-21-2007, 05:01

Special Forces phoney Phil Haberman

What a punk, actually “punk extraordinaire” might be a more proper term.

Team Sergeant

Pete

07-21-2007, 05:32

Notice the Sand Bag got him.

He's got a baited hook and fishin' for women and sad to say, they're fighting each other for the hook.

blue02hd

07-21-2007, 06:17

After a quick Google search this picture showed up. Considering I am not a Marine, maybe someone else can decipher the ribbons he is wearing.

8021

Pete

07-21-2007, 06:46

IIRC there was a FO article a long time back about him. That one was done from a local girl's slant on him and the Texas girl was used to fill out the story.

I think we might have even talked about it here. Not sure though.

Back to the TdF coverage.

I know, I know - but it does take a lot of skill.

The Reaper

07-21-2007, 08:20

Team Sergeant

07-21-2007, 21:22

blue02hd

07-21-2007, 21:51

Hmmm,

If he is gonna take legal action, he would have to declare his address. I wonder if anyone would be currently looking for that?

:munchin

The Reaper

07-21-2007, 22:05

Hmmm,

If he is gonna take legal action, he would have to declare his address. I wonder if anyone would be currently looking for that?

:munchin

I was just wondering the same thing.

Since he has allegedly claimed to be SF, is his current location and military status a matter of public record?

Some of the allegations approach criminal acts.

Would it be inappropriate to ask for an inquiry by his current commander or criminal investigation organization?

If he is innocent of the allegations, that would serve to clear his name. If not, he can pay the piper.

TR

Pete

07-22-2007, 05:58

Oh, this is too good. "Sandbag" Haberman spreads his lovin' persona all over the internet by both his postings and actions and then gets upset when people talk about him:D .

"Sandbag" makes SF claims and then gets upset when "his brothers:D " talk about him.:D :D

Ol' "Sandbag" needs to have a shrink wash his brain and then have it reformated. Sad, sad loser man.

Pete

kgoerz

07-22-2007, 06:07

Providing a bogus address to collect more BAQ is fraud and is prosecutable under the UCMJ. There are several more chargable offenses here. IMHO, he is a dirtbag preying on others and needs to go to jail.

I do have to wonder about some of these women though. You can see the pattern of bad decision making in some of these people's lives.

Incredible. He needs to do hard time.

TR

Thats a pretty common story
It's the trust that comes with the Uniform. A good friend of ours was living with a guy for over a year before she figured out he wasn't in the Army but AWOL. He put on the uniform every morning and hung out at the book store or flipped Burgers all day. Told her his pay was messed up and got away with it for over a year. Leeched off of this woman with a promise of a big paycheck the Army owed him. She didn't need the money.
I met him one time and his responses to my question raised my BS flag. I said no one says they are a Nurse when you ask them where they work on Bragg. He was over thirty years old but a Spec Four. Of course the girl refused to listen to my wife when she told her something ain't right with this guy. She did ask to see his ID card finally. It was six years expired. Just haven't had time to get a new one. That was his no shit response.
As she started to ask more questions he left one morning and never returned. They finally busted him. He had been scamming woman for years. We thought it would make the news but the one cop said it happens all the time in Fayetteville. Nothing news worthy about it.
The girl he was scamming is our Veterinarian and good looking. Like you said you have to question their decision making. This girl could get just about any guy she wanted but always takes in guys who end up spending her money. The guy living with her now doesn't even have a fake job:rolleyes: She is our vet so I screw with her all the time when she comes out to vet the Animals. Still taking in strays? She just laughs it off. I told her whatever makes you happy.

Ambush Master

07-22-2007, 07:48

Below is a message from "OceanLovingDude@aol.com".

phil, babycakes is that you? You're ordering me to take down a post about you?

Sorry sweetheart, ain't going to happen, not on my watch.

Intimidation, threats, coercion ain't going to work on me pussnuts.

Team Sergeant

from: OceanLovingDude@aol.com
To Professionalsoldiers.com

enclosed is a court order to remove content that my ex wife had posted on your site. I would ask that you comply wth the order to prevent legal action

Come on now phil!!! You ought to know by now that Special Forces Soldiers don't put up with this intimidation crap!!!

Oh, I forgot, YOU AREN'T SF!!!

But you are a scumbag!!!:mad:

BTW phil, all of the folks that you see on here bearing a "Quiet Professional" Title, are VETTED Special Forces Soldiers!!!

Edited to add: phil, why don't you register here and attempt to defend yourself?!?!?!

Roguish Lawyer

07-22-2007, 10:25

Perhaps Mr. Haberman would like to supply us with his DD-214 so we can evaluate his claim that the news story posted here is inaccurate?

Team Sergeant

07-22-2007, 11:33

Perhaps Mr. Haberman would like to supply us with his DD-214 so we can evaluate his claim that the news story posted here is inaccurate?

I guess its time for Special Forces soldiers to put phil's stories to rest.

19th Group guys, (SWC guys can also answer) we need your imput, was phil haberman a graduate of the the Q-Course?

We'd also like photos of phil wearing a green beret with flash. The black and white does not do him justice.

TS

Team Sergeant

07-22-2007, 11:58

Hey phil, is this a lie also?

phil, there's dozens of internet webpages devoted to you, as a phoney that is.... now how in the hell does a scumbag such as yourself re-enlist in the Army? "Other than Honorable", damn phil, those are HARD to get and you've received TWO? Amazing!

Team Sergeant

Mar. 26, 2006
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
STOLEN VALOR: Acts of Dishonor
Despite laws against it, thousands wear unearned medals
By KEITH ROGERS
REVIEW-JOURNAL

http://www.chinapost1.org/2006/Anton.pdf

Early last year, a man claiming to be a Special Forces soldier in transit at McCarran International Airport called the Review-Journal requesting help in getting back a laptop computer that he said had been stolen while he waited for a plane. The computer, he said, contained secret military information and he was in desperate need to
replace it.
No help was offered, but a couple months later the Review-Journal was directed to a Web site that contained a profile of the same man, Phil Haberman, a self-described injured soldier who had served in Iraq.
When asked about his Special Forces career in a June 21 telephone conversation, Haberman, a former National Guard soldier who had hop-scotched from units in Nevada, California, Utah and North Carolina, declined to elaborate on his military career.
In a voice mail left later that evening, Haberman said, "Something's not sitting too well with me. ... I would appreciate it if you just leave everything be and not contact anybody in the military about me. ...
Again, do not contact anybody in my group and don't track down my former command sergeant major. If it is about the computer or if you have anything you need to speak to me about, you can go through my attorney."
Military records show Haberman was allowed to join the Nevada
National Guard even though he had received an other-than-honorable discharge from the Marine Corps.
The Dallas Observer reported last year that Haberman sported a
Purple Heart "Combat Wounded" ribbon on the bumper of his car.
Haberman went to high school near Dallas, according to the
newspaper.
Court papers filed with Family Court in Las Vegas, where his marriage with Kristen Rhoad was annulled, show that Haberman sought a Purple Heart medal. But a Freedom of Information Act request she filed seeking documentation was returned with a message from an Army captain, stating, "Mr. Haberman was not awarded the Purple Heart."
The same captain told Rhoad in another e-mail that Haberman was discharged from the Army on Oct. 26 with an other-than-honorable status.
"Your husband was discharged from the Army yesterday, as well as from the North Carolina National Guard. ... His time in the Army is over. Perhaps he'll try the Air Force next."
Haberman last week could not provide a copy of his discharge papers or his military record to the Review-Journal.

Team Sergeant

07-22-2007, 12:01

Under Other Than Honorable Conditions.

OTH Discharges are warranted when the reason for separation is based upon a pattern of behavior that constitutes a significant departure from the conduct expected of members of the Military Services, or when the reason for separation is based upon one or more acts or omissions that constitute a significant departure from the conduct expected of members of the Military Services. Examples of factors that may be considered include the use of force or violence to produce serious bodily injury or death, abuse of a special position of trust, disregard by a superior of customary superior-subordinate relationships, acts or omissions that endanger the security of the United States or the health and welfare of other members of the Military Services, and deliberate acts or omissions that seriously endanger the health and safety of other persons.

Persons awarded an OTH characterization of service: are not entitled to retain their uniforms or wear them home (although they may be furnished civilian clothing at a cost of not more than $50); must accept transportation in kind to their homes; are subject to recoupment of any reenlistment bonus they may have received; are not eligible for notice of discharge to employers (which may affect unemployment benefits); and, do not receive mileage fees from the place of discharge to their home of record.

It is generally believed that an OTH Discharge will render an individual ineligible for all VA Benefits. This is not necessarily so. The Department of Veterans Affairs will make its own determination with respect as to whether the OTH was based on conditions which would forfeit any or all VA benefits. Most veterans' benefits will be forfeited if that determination is adverse to the former service-member, such as when based on the following circumstances: (1) Desertion; (2) escape prior to trial by general court-martial; (3) conscientious objector who refuses to perform military duties, wear the uniform, or comply with lawful orders of competent military authorities; (4) willful or persistent misconduct; (5) offense(s) involving moral turpitude; (6) mutiny or spying; or (7) homosexual acts involving aggravating circumstances.

Team Sergeant

07-22-2007, 12:12

Funny how djdrager does not post his name on either website.

http://www.pownetwork.org/phonies/phonies257.htm

http://djdrager.podomatic.com/

http://www.myspace.com/djdrager

Pete

07-22-2007, 16:04

Since he sent an e-mail he knows about us.

Did he sign up with the site?

Can we expect to see an intro post shortly?:eek:

FayetteHell? ?? Only if you're a posser.:D

Imagine living in a town where the majority of people are military, retired military, spouse of military, in a military/ex-military family or knows somebody who is/was in the military.:D

Ol' "Sandbag's" ears must be burning about now.

The Reaper

07-22-2007, 16:20

Funny how djdrager does not post his name on either website.

http://www.pownetwork.org/phonies/phonies257.htm

http://djdrager.podomatic.com/

http://www.myspace.com/djdrager

Does attending a wife swapping or swingers party, even as part of the entertainment, sound conducive to a military career, considering the "good order and discipline" as well as the "conduct unbecoming" clauses?

We need to find out who his current chain of command is. I know the 19th Group Commander, Colonel A, but suspect that Phil the Phony is long gone.

TR

Ambush Master

07-22-2007, 17:43

Come on now phil!!! You ought to know by now that Special Forces Soldiers don't put up with this intimidation crap!!!

Oh, I forgot, YOU AREN'T SF!!!

But you are a scumbag!!!:mad:

BTW phil, all of the folks that you see on here bearing a "Quiet Professional" Title, are VETTED Special Forces Soldiers!!!

Edited to add: phil, why don't you register here and attempt to defend yourself?!?!?!

After thinking about it, I do not wish to insult the Scumbags!!! Sorry, I used the wrong term........YOU ARE A DICKWEED!!!!

Now join the site and attempt to defend yourself!!!!

Matta mile

07-23-2007, 06:49

A couple more pics of Haberman
http://www.geocities.com/vah11/Phil_Haberman_Special/my_name_is_phil_haberman.htm

Kyobanim

07-23-2007, 07:19

Evidently, he didn't want anyone to see the pics, the site is unavailable.

MFFI115

07-23-2007, 12:35

:munchin

Hipshot

07-23-2007, 20:38

Evidently, he didn't want anyone to see the pics, the site is unavailable.

:confused:
I clicked on the link and the page opened up, so maybe it was down for a while. Didn't read the whole story - read enough to want to knock the SOB into next year.:mad: Didn't see any pics other than him (at a distance) so maybe he had the page down taking the pictures off, then re-posted it.

SF_BHT

07-23-2007, 21:36

Well they are still off the net. I think he is scared and going to ground.

Ret10Echo

07-24-2007, 04:47

A couple more pics of Haberman
http://www.geocities.com/vah11/Phil_Haberman_Special/my_name_is_phil_haberman.htm

The link is up again....as Hipshot stated, the photos are distant shots...

Guy

07-24-2007, 06:51

Ain't nothing SF about this guy, if he has a problem with what was said; it's easy to solve...

"Give me your address Phil and I'll hop on the FIRST plane smoking with my records in hand; you have yours and we'll compare notes!":munchin

Some more info... http://greensickle.com/2006/07/stolen_valor_part_seven_phil_h.html

M.C.S.O. Arrest Search Results by Name

As of Tuesday, July 24, 2007 at 14:26 (http://www.keysso.net/dll/WebQuery.dll?)

blue02hd

07-24-2007, 16:48

My wife just got back from Korea, and is soon to leave the Army to finish her Law Degree. Seems she had deep professional interaction with his admin action that seperated him from the Army here at Bragg.

She is still laughing about his sorry ass. Oh, and Phil, she says hello, and wonders if you still have that skin tight SF t-shirt? You are one sorry excuse for a soldier.

My wife rocks.

Team Sergeant

10-18-2007, 09:51

Someone sent me an email that states our boy phil has re-enlisted!

"The aforementioned phoney is currently stationed (As of 18 October 2007) at MacDill AFB in Tampa, FL as part of the Joint Communications Support Element (JCSE).

I don't believe the current chain-of-command knows about
Haberman's past."

Team Sergeant

10-18-2007, 10:48

Funny what one can find on the internet!

phil, sweetcheeks, you're my HERO!!!!!!!

http://www.eyesontalent.com/talent/ma0004/Resume.doc

PHIL J HABERMAN
CELL-818-720-8762
SAG-E

Television

JAG Accuracy Actor/US Marine Recurring
West Wing Secret Service Agent Recurring
X-Files Various Military/LE Roles Recurring
Cold Case Files Co-Star/ Lead Police Officer Co-Star

Film

High Crimes Lead Courtroom Guard Featured
We Were Soldiers Radio Operator/ Foreign Legion Featured
Scorpion King Archer/Special Skills Featured

Stunts

We Were Soldiers Aerial Stunts/ Flying Cast
JAG Underwater/Tactical/Airborne

Technical Advising

JAG Aide To Matt Sigloch/ Military Regs
Discovery Channel Law Enforcement/Tactical Advisor-Cold Case Files

Skills and Talents

Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran
Former US Army Special Forces Communications Specialist
Former US Marine
US Army Primary Weapons Instructor
US Army Rifle and Pistol Expert
Tactical Weapons Specialist
CQB Specialist
Underwater Operations Specialist
Firearms Instructor
Airborne Qualified
Divemaster (22years and over 4000 Dives)
Rescue Diver and Dive Medic
Skydiver
Driven Indy Race Cars on Track
Precision Driving
Former Firefighter (Monroe County Florida)
Nightclub DJ

Snaquebite

10-18-2007, 10:55

Nightclub DJ

Impresses me the most...It's hard to keep ALL the patrons happy. :D

BrianH

10-18-2007, 11:27

Impresses me the most...It's hard to keep ALL the patrons happy. :D
Didn't you hear? "Club DJ 101" is now part of the POI for all Echos.

Guy

10-18-2007, 16:16

deanwells

10-21-2007, 10:00

Didn't you hear? "Club DJ 101" is now part of the POI for all Echos.

Can you guys here the techno bumping from my radeeo (note my thick german accent)!!!!:p

Team Sergeant

07-22-2008, 07:39

phil haberman are you back in the United States Armed service?

I've been receiving reports you have re-entered the service and telling your stories, again!!!!

Boy the US military sure is stupid..... so is the FBI.:D

Neither of them can touch you! (or catch you!)

If it's true you're actually back wearing a military (Army) uniform I cannot wait to see the records you forged!!!

Don't worry phil haberman, I will not tell the local authorities or the FBI you're back in uniform, they really don't care. Take some pictures of the war for us!

Team Sergeant

Team Sergeant

07-22-2008, 08:44

phil haberman, is it true you just went through the "RIGGER" course at FT Lee?

If this is in fact true you military types might want to get off your asses and find phil before he actually kills someone.

I don't have the unit he's curently assigned to, yet.

I've also heard he's about to deploy.

Feel free to show your commanders this thread concerning phil haberman.

Team Sergeant

KW9598

07-22-2008, 09:11

Looks like he's locked up in Monroe County Jail...aka Stock Island (Key west). As you guys know, we have PLENTY of guys down there who would love to buy him a drink or two after his release. ;)

Team Sergeant

07-22-2008, 09:17

Looks like he's locked up in Monroe County Jail...aka Stock Island (Key west). As you guys know, we have PLENTY of guys down there who would love to buy him a drink or two after his release. ;)

Unless that's new info its old data.... he's been arested and jailed there before.

Team Sergeant

07-22-2008, 09:26

Someone from Ft Lee wrote me today, informing me that phil haberman just went through the Ft Lee "RIGGER" course and was about to deploy.

This person said our boy phil was telling some wild stories to the Riggers (I know that's hard to believe) so this person went in search of phil on the internet and they found phil on our website.:lifter

I'm guessing phil is about to have his ass handed to him, again......

For the FBI or military reading this, please take some pictures of phil being arrested, again.;)

Team Sergeant

Heretic

07-22-2008, 12:54

Ft Lee huh. 1.5 hour drive from me. Interesting.

Team Sergeant

07-22-2008, 16:54

It's a fact, phil haberman is back in military uniform..... the fraud even made a video...........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdCZZFnOFfA

Team Sergeant

10-02-2008, 15:26

I've received some emails and PM's that our boy phil is indeed back in uniform and will deploy in a matter of days.

The funny thing is the individuals that contacted me only went looking into phil's background after the bullshit stories he told them, they all said the same thing that his stories were so outrageous and full of lies they took to the internet for some research on phil, they found what they were looking for on this thread.

Mother Army and the US military have lost their minds.

Team Sergeant

Heretic

10-02-2008, 15:58

I would like to be there when they confront him with the information. Please invite them back and have them tell us a good bed time story. :munchin

blue02hd

10-02-2008, 16:29

What unit and where to?

Enigma0122

10-02-2008, 18:00

Check out UTube under OceanLuvnguy, has three short videos, if you want to post and say something to this sorry individual. Might be good to let Pam in the Pool know about the ass wipe. Oh, and the dog. Filmed a year ago.

HMass18Z

10-06-2008, 13:57

Team Sergeant

10-06-2008, 14:07

OK Guys, here is the latest on Poser Phil. I now work as a military consultant and was working at North Fort Hood, advising and mentoring a National Guard unit about to deploy. The BN CSM came up to me and asked if he gave me a name, could I run it down thru the community, because he thought the guy was a poser. I asked for the name and he told me the guys was, get this, are ya ready . . . Phil Haberman ! ! ! I showed the Bn Cdr Phil's little Wall of Shame and to make a long story short, Poser Phil was an IRR "soldier" (yeah, that word was hard to type) sent to augment his BN, but all applicable paperwork was done, and Poser Phil was shown the front gate of North Fort Hood and told to never come back. Yet, I feel there will always be more to the Poser Phil Story.

LOLOLOL, you should have gotten a picture of phil haberman being escorted off base!!!;)

What comes around goes around, but when its coming around the second time its usually moving a whole lot faster.... ain't that right phil?

You screw with Special Forces soldiers and you'll be on the short end of the stick everytime.

Team Sergeant

SF_BHT

10-06-2008, 14:12

OK Guys, here is the latest on Poser Phil. I now work as a military consultant and was working at North Fort Hood, advising and mentoring a National Guard unit about to deploy. The BN CSM came up to me and asked if he gave me a name, could I run it down thru the community, because he thought the guy was a poser. I asked for the name and he told me the guys was, get this, are ya ready . . . Phil Haberman ! ! ! I showed the Bn Cdr Phil's little Wall of Shame and to make a long story short, Poser Phil was an IRR "soldier" (yeah, that word was hard to type) sent to augment his BN, but all applicable paperwork was done, and Poser Phil was shown the front gate of North Fort Hood and told to never come back. Yet, I feel there will always be more to the Poser Phil Story.

Good Job. Need to buy you a beer for that one......:D

Richard

10-06-2008, 14:50

Phil thinks he's starring in "Catch Me If You Can"...the updated version written by Eric Haney and Dalton Fury, directed by Oliver Stone, and produced by Michael Moore. Barack Obama endorses this fine soldier's struggle against the Army's efforts to disparage his highly classified service to our nation and applauds the efforts of those involved to uncover the 'truth' for the American public. :rolleyes:

Richard :munchin

Stras

10-06-2008, 19:50

OK Guys, here is the latest on Poser Phil. I now work as a military consultant and was working at North Fort Hood, advising and mentoring a National Guard unit about to deploy. The BN CSM came up to me and asked if he gave me a name, could I run it down thru the community, because he thought the guy was a poser. I asked for the name and he told me the guys was, get this, are ya ready . . . Phil Haberman ! ! ! I showed the Bn Cdr Phil's little Wall of Shame and to make a long story short, Poser Phil was an IRR "soldier" (yeah, that word was hard to type) sent to augment his BN, but all applicable paperwork was done, and Poser Phil was shown the front gate of North Fort Hood and told to never come back. Yet, I feel there will always be more to the Poser Phil Story.

Well done... don't suppose you have photos or video of ole Phil leaving the post.

I have some cold Reutberg at the Bragg safe house for ya.. let me know if you're headed out my way.

Team Sergeant

10-08-2008, 11:26

Someone sent me info stating that the US Army Reserve Command was indeed investigating phil haberman, "months ago".:rolleyes::rolleyes:

This is going to make a news reporters dream come true when phil, once again, is discharged, and once again, he joins the US Army, NG or Reserves.

Remember we reported it here first.....;)

Hey Phil! If anything you're sure making the US Army Reserve Command look pretty foolish.

Team Sergeant

greenberetTFS

10-08-2008, 15:05

I don't believe this s**t.......How can he Keep getting away with this? In this day and age with computers in our U.S. Army Reserve Command he almost pulled it off again!
If it wasn't for HMass18Z, he would have gotten away with it.......:(

GB TFS :munchin

Richard

10-08-2008, 17:14

Maybe Phil's working on his resume again so he can impress Haney and take over the COL's role on "The Unit" when the COL, who is being hunted by the MSG whose wife he was having an affair with, goes AWOL and is rumored to be hiding in Tora Bora. After two seasons and several failed "Unit" attempts to find him, he returns and it is discovered that it was all a ruse--known only to COL Tom and Phil--which allowed COL Tom to go undercover and eliminate UBL, the Taliban, high gas prices, and the national debt because of a lucrative 'tell all' book deal that is an overwhelming sales success in Russia, China, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Pakistan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Venezuela, Cuba, etc. Sounds like a future "60 Minutes" interview of Phil--in disguise, of course--to me. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Seriously, though, how the hell can this guy keep getting away with this in today's information access world! :confused:

Richard :munchin

Kyobanim

10-08-2008, 19:31

Seriously, though, how the hell can this guy keep getting away with this in today's information access world!

Because ever branch and organization of every service is so proprietary with their systems. None of them talk to each other. Even in their own service.

Heretic

10-09-2008, 06:46

Thanks for the email heads up H-man. This cat needs a run in. I could only dream of him coming back to VA.

HMass18Z

10-09-2008, 16:18

The Reaper

10-09-2008, 18:18

Well, good ol Phil is still at it. I recieved an email from the BN CDR that got this piece of sh*t out of his BN, and Phil went to the Dallas JAG office and filed a complaint against the BN CDR for kicking him off of North Fort Hood. More to follow guys.

Something is missing here.

IIRC, the JAG does not receive complaints from soldiers against their chain of command.

Administrative matters may be referred to the IG, criminal complaints go to the CID.

TR

SF_BHT

10-09-2008, 18:42

We need to conact the writers of Boston Legal and give them the story line of the year. Denny Crain would live to take on Phil:D

Team Sergeant

10-14-2008, 13:36

This just in from an anonymous (A1) source.....:D

Hi,

I found your forum while Googling “Phil Haberman”. I’m not a member of the SF community, so I don’t plan on registering. But I do have some more information about Haberman to share with you.

CPL Haberman came to Ft. Hood in late August, assigned as an IRR Soldier to a deploying unit.

USARC contacted us 24SEP about him being on post and needing to be removed, so it appears Big Army is on the lookout for Haberman.

We contacted his unit S-1. His unit took his ID card and escorted him off post. I don’t know where HMass18Z’s involvement fits in with the timing, it’s possible that they both occurred simultaneously.

After he left, IG finally came looking for him – two or three days after the fact.

Ft. Hood AG requested that Haberman return to military control while they decided what to do with him. It appears that at least one of his many National Guard enlistments may not have been terminated correctly and may still be active in the system.

As of right now (141400OCT08) Haberman is here on Ft. Hood. He is pending release from duty, hopefully through yet another OTH discharge.

The big shame in this whole mess is that Haberman keeps enlisting, using his legal name and correct Social Security Number. It’s not like he uses a fake name or SSN when he reenlists, nor shows up for duty as a civilian pretending to be military with faked orders. I’ve seen copies of some of his enlistment contracts and he marked himself as prior service, so nothing fraudulent there. The blame for this mess rests equally on the National Guard recruiters that are so desperate to get bodies to sign that they don’t do due diligence.

Haberman is currently driving a red Mustang Cobra with Florida “US Paratrooper” plates, so he must have gotten rid of the “Combat Wounded Veteran” plates. He tiptoes on the edge of the law, stretching the truth to its extreme without breaking it.

Best regards & thanks for what you have done and are doing.

HMass18Z

11-10-2008, 09:09

This is the latest update that I have received concerning Poser Phil:

Well he has finally been broken, old Phil Habermann. The Hood MOB BDE called him back to Fort Hood after he went to Dallas and made an IG complaint with the JAG. The MOB BDE processed him out of the army with a DD220, civilian performance while in the 100th, started collection action on him for $7,000 of back pay, took him to the front gates and sent him on his way. Every system in the Department of Defense now has a block and a flag on him and there are criminal proceedings pending on the recruiter in Las Vegas that assisted in getting him back in to the Army. This should put a final stamp on him coming into the service but won’t prevent him from being the big league faker that his is. Keep an eye out for him and let me know where he next appears.

SF_BHT

11-10-2008, 09:24

Team Sergeant

11-10-2008, 11:50

LOL, great news......

phil haberman you pathetic fraud, what do you have to say for yourself now? You going to get a restraining order against the Army?

Great job gent's.

One down a few thousand to go.....

Team Sergeant

Team Sergeant

06-04-2009, 10:39

phil haberman, you're at it again!!!!! You need some serious jail time......

http://www.omsdive.com/phil.html

HMass18Z

06-04-2009, 11:24

I guess I shouldn't be suprised at Poser Phil, his sad, pathetic life is just one lie after another. I agree, he needs some serious jail time. You would think sooner or later he would learn his lesson, but then again, we are talking about Poser Phil.

greenberetTFS

06-04-2009, 12:32

This guy is f**ken nuts! ....... :rolleyes: He's headed for jail and they'll catch up with him sooner or later........:eek: Can you imagine the BS stories he'll have for his fellow inmates,about his heroic past in SF during his time in the sand box ....... :mad: Maybe he'll even wear his medals...... If we find out when he's captured and where they send him we can bust his ass again only they'll be no place for him to hide.........

GB TFS :munchin

csquare

06-04-2009, 13:12

greenberetTFS

06-04-2009, 17:01

Phil can tell his fellow inmates all his SF stories and then he'll find out how many other former SF, former SEALS and other Special Ops guys are in prison with him too. Should be some great conversations between them all telling BS stories about the sh!t they all did.
Then after all his tall tales and stories, his jailhouse nickname could be "Topper".

csquare,

He's an ugly prick, but maybe some 350 lb inmate may make him his bride and it would be a terrific ending to this story.... ;) His nickname than could be "Headman" :p

GB TFS :munchin

csquare

06-05-2009, 07:02

GB TFS
Let me clarify. I meant the nickname "Topper" would be from all the outlandish BS stories told by everyone in the yard, and "HIS" would be the most outlandish. So then all his stories would "top" their's.
I do read Dilbert from time to time......

Team Sergeant

12-28-2010, 10:22

From: Phil [mailto:wreckdivingfool@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, December 28, 2010 8:29 AM
To: deaddrop@professionalsoldiers.com
Subject: Request for Removal

Got an email today from none other than phil haberman! Phil [wreckdivingfool@yahoo.com] Well I think it's phil haberman.

phil would like to be removed from our "Hall of Shame". phil says it's all his ex-wife's fault and that he's a "victim" of her anger.

Poor poor phil says he's received death threats from individuals on this website? (phil didn't include those threats in his email although he did include some other 15 documents, not one a death threat, wonder why?)

phil, I do have email after email from "women" in Florida stating you are usually seen wearing Special Forces "Combat Diver" tee shirts and tell everyone that will listen that you were in fact a SF Combat Diver. We also know that you have fraudulently re-enlisted in the Army and were once again thrown out, ID Card taken and escorted off base. What say you about that phil?

No phil, you have been exposed as a fraud and a bottom-feeding scumbag along with a few dozen others, your name will remain in our "Hall of Shame" as long as the internet is up and running. My advice to you is change your name to Susan, get a sex-change operation and move to Thailand if you wish to blend in...

uplink5

12-28-2010, 10:56

My advice to you is change your name to Susan, get a sex-change operation and move to Thailand if you wish to blend in...

WARNING:

Do not drink coffee (or anything else) while reading the above!!!

What started as a involuntary reflexive chuckle, rendered me as a choking retch of nose spurting gag reflexes of such proportions that my daughter has been severely traumatized, perhaps for life (she’s still laughing at me)......and I'm still cleaning up the mess.

I'm feeling a bit better now :(....jd

glebo

12-28-2010, 11:19

WARNING:

Do not drink coffee (or anything else) while reading the above!!!

What started as a involuntary reflexive chuckle, rendered me as a choking retch of nose spurting gag reflexes of such proportions that my daughter has been severely traumatized, perhaps for life (she’s still laughing at me)......and I'm still cleaning up the mess.

I'm feeling a bit better now :(....jd

Or better yet....how 'bout Dianne????

Gotta follow on good 'ol "Daves" footsteps:munchin:munchin

Team Sergeant

07-02-2013, 13:37

Phil Haberman is at it again and is still wearing Special Forces uniforms and telling people he's "Special Ops"......

Phil Haberman don't you ever quit?

Team Sergeant

07-02-2013, 13:52

Phil Haberman Special Forces Fraud are you going to send me another email begging me to remove your name from this website?

Phil Haberman Special Forces Fraud do you have any idea how many people have emailed me to tell me you're wearing Special Forces uniforms and telling "Special Forces stories"?

Phil Haberman Special Forces Fraud you should realize by now everytime you go out in public wearing a Special Forces uniform I receive an email from Joe Public asking if you are really a Special Forces soldier.

Phil Haberman Special Forces Fraud we're still tracking you. :rolleyes:

sinjefe

07-02-2013, 13:54

Phil Haberman Special Forces Fraud you are a douche.

SF18C

07-02-2013, 13:56

Phil Haberman Special Forces Fraud

What hole did this Fraud climb out of???

Team Sergeant

07-02-2013, 14:14

Here's the frauds website...... seems he's also pissed off the music industry.....

DJ Drager, bottom feeding scumbag is more like it.

Nice photo Phil, where's your "Green Beret"? Still telling all your fans you served with Special Forces in A-Stan?

djdrager.com

http://djdrager.com/drager-biography.php

Sonofagunny

07-02-2013, 16:20

That dudes "musak" is HORRIBLE!

Seems he's impersonating a DJ now?

TrapperFrank

07-02-2013, 19:54

DJ Turd Burglar?

Don

07-03-2013, 03:19

Phil Haberman Special Forces Fraud

What hole did this Fraud climb out of???

Dude, did you just say, PHIL (PHILLIP) HABERMAN, Special Forces Fraud? Just wanted to make sure you were talking about "Phil DJ Drager HABERMAN Special Forces Fraud Florida US Army Wannabe".

SF_BHT

07-03-2013, 04:46

Dude, did you just say, PHIL (PHILLIP) HABERMAN, Special Forces Fraud? Just wanted to make sure you were talking about "Phil DJ Drager HABERMAN Special Forces Fraud Florida US Army Wannabe".

Yes he did say, PHIL (PHILLIP) HABERMAN, Special Forces Fraud? Just wanted to make sure you were talking about "Phil DJ Drager HABERMAN Special Forces Fraud Florida US Army Wannabe".

What a POS....

JJ_BPK

07-03-2013, 05:05

Phil Haberman Special Forces Fraud,,

Need a picture??

:munchin

Team Sergeant

07-03-2013, 08:22

Phill is currently running scams in Sarasota County Florida. If you know anyone in the Sarasota County Sheriff Dept please send them this thread on the fraud known as Phil Haberman.

Divemaster

07-03-2013, 08:28

Phil Haberman Special Forces fraud has a Twitter following: https://twitter.com/dragerlies

Team Sergeant

09-12-2017, 17:00

Phil Drager aka Phil Jason Haberman The “Never Ending Special Forces Fraud”

Poor Phil must be off his game, outed by a civilian reporter and a female at that.

(My eyes are getting old, but is that what I think it is on his shirt?)

Taking charge in U.S. flood zone, a rescuer inflates his record

By Emily Flitter
ReutersSeptember 10, 2017

By Emily Flitter
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Phil Drager commanded a fleet of rescue boats, closed a highway, and flagged down a helicopter when he led efforts to rescue flood victims in Texas as waters rose after Hurricane Harvey, citing as his credentials a record in U.S. military special operations.

His actions as a volunteer were real, but some of what he told victims, volunteers and officials about himself - including his name and the details of his military background - was not.

Drager was born Phil Jason Haberman but said he uses an assumed name for personal reasons. He served in the Marines from 1990 to 1991, according to military records. He also served for a year and a half in the Army National Guard where he was discharged in 2006 under "other than honorable conditions," a National Guard spokesman said.

Drager told Reuters the records were "not accurate."*He later said additional paperwork filed in Florida showed his National Guard discharge was overturned to become honorable. The National Guard spokesman said he was unable to find those records.

After initially saying he could not retrieve information he had at home relevant to Reuters' comment request because he was traveling, Drager sent copies of records showing he joined the Army Reserves and was assigned to active duty in Georgia in April 2008 for a term that expired a year later. Multiple military representatives did not immediately respond to requests to verify the records.

There is no evidence Drager acted illegally.

However, one official overseeing Texas rescue operations said his representations put him in a role typically reserved for vetted authorities. An Orange County, Texas, emergency response center banned him after finding out his real identity, according to the center's commander, Rodney Smith, the deputy chief of the Cedar Hill, Texas, Fire Department.

"Early on in an incident, before credentialing is set up, there are a lot of people who come in to assist," Smith said. "As quick as you can get something up to make sure everyone's who they say they are, you have to do that."
Disasters often draw heroes. Hundreds of people flocked to coastal Texas with boats and supplies in late August after Hurricane Harvey, and others will head to Florida after Hurricane Irma.
***
'PARATROOPER'
On the morning of Aug. 31, Drager, in his capacity as a volunteer, led a Reuters reporter into the Orange County rescue operations center and entered a restricted area for senior officials only.

The reporter had seen him arrive in a BMW station wagon whose license plate read "paratrooper," and asked if he was one.

"I was so much more than that," Drager responded.
After introducing himself to authorities, Drager took charge of a dozen volunteers with boats. He led them in a convoy along Interstate 10 to where flooding covered the road and cars and trucks were gliding single-file through the water.
He then persuaded two Texas Highway Patrol officers to halt all traffic to let the rescuers launch.

"Now I can add shutting a major Interstate highway to my resume," he said.
The Texas Highway Patrol did not comment when asked if it would have closed the highway had it known Drager's real background.

Drager then selected an airboat piloted by Rocky Breaux, a volunteer from Louisiana, to go scouting for people to rescue. He took the reporter and a photographer with him.

Some volunteers said they were unhappy to be idle waiting on dry land for orders that Drager said he would give them. Over a walkie-talkie they began to call Drager "Hollywood Phil" and to complain he was mainly interested in media attention.

During his rescue work on Aug. 31, Drager shot videos which captured the closed-down highway, lined-up boats and men in his command, and a couple he helped leave their flooded home. He posted the videos on a Facebook page.****

During their scouting trip, Drager helped persuade the couple, Kent and Hersey Kirk, to leave and get onto another rescuer's boat. That boat struck something hidden below the muddy water, and Hersey Kirk injured her elbow and foot.
Drager then flagged down a helicopter manned by the Utah National Guard. A guardsman lowered himself on a tether to raise the Kirks. He came down again and talked with Drager before pulling him up too.

"When I was on the ground with him ... he said something like he's an ex-special forces soldier," said Sergeant 1st Class Zach Kesler, who was on the helicopter's tether.

"Phil just wanted to take a ride in a helicopter," Breaux said.
In an interview with Reuters, Drager denied having misrepresented himself and said he was motivated by nothing more*than a desire to help.
He said it was "a shame that someone who does good things... always ends up on the bad end of things."

(Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Howard Goller)

https://www.yahoo.com/news/taking-charge-u-flood-zone-rescuer-inflates-record-154841539.html