Mark Kirk's Military Award Mistake

By Soyoung Kwak in News on May 30, 2010 2:30PM

The political wheels of Illinois never seem to stop turning. State Rep. Mark Kirk - also the GOP candidate for U.S. Senate - had once stated on his website that he was given the Navy's Intellgence Officer of the Year Award (which is one of its highest honors that is awarded to one person per year) in 1999, for his service during NATO's conflict with Serbia. However, after being tipped off by someone from the Giannoulias campaign, an inquiry made by the Washington Post reports Kirk has never held such a title granted by the Navy. The Washington Post also reveals that Kirk has acknowledged his mistake and revised his biography on his website, in which he states that he was actually given a different award:

In a message on his blog, Kirk wrote that "upon a recent review of my records, I found that an award listed in my official biography was misidentified" and that the award he had intended to list was given to his unit, not to him individually.

Kirk was assigned to a unit based in Aviano, Italy, during the conflict. A professional group, the National Military Intelligence Association, gave the unit an award for outstanding service, according to a revised résumé posted on Kirk's Web site Saturday.

The association's Vice Admiral Rufus L. Taylor Award celebrates "the exceptional achievements of an outstanding Naval Intelligence career professional," but the citation in 2000 contains no mention of Kirk and instead designates the entire Intelligence Division Electronic Attack Wing at Aviano.

Although earning the the Rufus Taylor Award is no average feat, it seems that Kirk really believed that he had won the prestigious Intelligence Officer of the Year Award. For example, Kirk had claimed the Navy's award to prove that he was well-qualified to discuss national security spending during a House committee hearing in 2002. Steve Bryant from NBC Chicago also points out that Kirk may have a history of exaggerating his qualifications. But Kirk's people were quick to respond, sending out a press release late last night calling Giannoulias "desperate" and a "failed mob banker. The Kirk campaign fired back:

The Giannoulias provided story inaccurately portrays then-LCDR Kirk as just one intelligence officer attached to one Navy squadron. In fact, as the official citation for Mr. Kirk’s Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal clearly states: “…while serving as aviation intelligence officer for Electronic Attack Squadron Two Zero Nine from 10 April to 6 June 1999…He took charge of four deployed squadron's intelligence assets and personnel and forged them into an outstanding intelligence shop.” It was this work that won the nomination and selection of the United States Navy Vice Admiral Rufus L. Taylor Intelligence Award.

Furthermore, the story inaccurately portrays the Rufus Taylor award as a non-Navy award. In fact, the United States Navy Vice Admiral Rufus L. Taylor Intelligence Award is nominated and selected by the U.S. Navy. It is named after the legendary head of Navy Intelligence during World War II. It is then awarded by the National Military Intelligence Association.

We've got 155 more days of this to go until the general election.