JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash.—U.S. Special Forces Command has announced Sgt. First Class Clifford Randall has been stripped of his Special Forces tab and Bronze Star as a result of an investigation surrounding his use of issued equipment during a 2017 deployment. Randall, a Special Forces soldier since 2005, lost all of his awards and accolades as a result of using the gear he was issued, and only that gear.
An unidentified complainant filed an allegation with the Inspector General (IG) Office that Randall routinely refused to incorporate nonstandard and civilian gear as part of his load out gear while assigned to 3rd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group in Firebase Shaddadi, Syria, in 2017.
“We had all the best kit available from North Face, Crye Precision, and a host of others,” said Master Sgt. Dieter Thurmann, the operations sergeant for 3rd Battalion. “I mean, seriously, if we’re just wearing issued kit you can get from any CIF, we might as well be the 101st.”
