Army Officially Confirms House Republican Can’t Wear Combat Badge That Led to Accusations of ‘Stolen Valor’

Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images

The U.S. Army confirmed that Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) was indeed awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge by mistake, a pin Nehls has continued to wear despite it being revoked in 2023.

CBS News did a deep dive into Nehls’s military record back in May and found that “his Combat Infantryman Badge from Afghanistan was revoked from his service record in March 2023 because Nehls served as a civil affairs officer, not as an infantryman or Special Forces soldier. The congressman continues to wear the Combat Infantryman Badge lapel pin on his suit.” The CBS investigation led to other news outlets looking into the story and NOTUS spoke to several GOP House members, all veterans, who had tough words for Nehls.

“It matters. As a former commander, it matters what you wear on your uniform,” Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) told NOTUS.

“And if you didn’t earn it, you shouldn’t wear it,” added the former Navy SEAL and Trump administration official.

“That’s ridiculous. That’s stolen valor,” Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) told NOTUS, explaining that the badge is for those who “engaged with the enemy.”

Nehls hit back in mid-June, saying , “The ‘Big Army’ says, there’s a discrepancy. What the hell is that discrepancy? … How many CIBs have been revoked from soldiers since enduring Operation Iraqi Freedom or Enduring Freedom. That’s going to be a good, good question, isn’t it? So how many CIBs had been revoked from soldiers, or is it just Troy Nehls, Mr. Maga guy?”

The Army has finally clarified the situation in a Friday statement to NOTUS reporter John Seward , who wrote :

The Army’s statement to NOTUS confirms prior reporting that Nehls served in the Army as an enlisted infantryman, as well as an armor and civil affairs officer from July 1988 to December 2008 — first in the Wisconsin National Guard for 13 years and then in the Army Reserve for the last seven years. For both deployments — Iraq in 2004 and Afghanistan in 2008 — Nehls served as an officer in the civil affairs branch, an Army spokesperson confirmed to NOTUS. That role does not qualify for the Combat Infantryman Badge.

Nehls’s military record first came under scrutiny after a CBS called into question how many medals he had actually been awarded versus his claims. Nehls hit back at the CBS report that said he was awarded only one Bronze Star, not two, by posting a photo of his two Bronze Stars. The Pentagon later said it would investigate why Nehls’s service record only showed the one medal, despite Nehls having documentation for two.

Nehls is currently facing a GOP-led House Ethics Committee investigation into alleged campaign finance violations. “The independent office that reviews allegations against House members found probable cause that Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas converted campaign funds to personal use,” reported the AP in May.