Senior Enlisted Marine Reduced to Sergeant for Wearing Unauthorized Awards, Including Purple Heart

A senior enlisted Marine was busted down to sergeant last month after he wore military decorations -- including the Purple Heart and Combat Action Ribbon -- that he was not authorized to wear, according to a charge sheet obtained by Military.com.

Per a plea agreement, then-Sgt. Maj. Charlie Clawson was reduced in rank after a Sept. 13 court-martial found him in violation of nine specifications of wearing awards or devices that he did not earn, a Marine Corps spokesperson confirmed to the publication.

His charges also included providing a false statement and engaging in "conduct that is prejudicial to good order and discipline," the latter of which he faced nine specifications of, one for each unearned award or device he wore, the charge sheet said.

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According to the charges, Clawson wore the items over a nearly five-year period, to include when he was the senior enlisted leader of the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion aboard Camp Pendleton, California.

Military.com contacted Clawson on Friday afternoon for comment. He said he wanted to consult his lawyer before speaking with the press. The publication followed up on Monday afternoon via phone call and text, but did not hear back from Clawson by publication.

In total, Clawson was sentenced for wearing the following unauthorized decorations, ribbons or insignias: Purple Heart; Combat Action Ribbon -- which is awarded to Marines for actively participating in conflict with the enemy; Joint Meritorious Unit Award; NATO service medal; Kosovo Campaign Medal; Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal; Sea Service Deployment Ribbon denoting seven tours; Navy and Marine Corps Overseas Ribbon; and Navy and Marine Corps Parachutist Insignia.

Each count of unauthorized decorations was paired with a specification of Article 134, a wide-ranging Uniform Code of Military Justice law that covers unbecoming conduct, according to the charge sheet.

Clawson was also charged with making a false official statement when he submitted -- "with intent to deceive" -- a doctoral degree and transcript from Liberty University in 2019 that was "totally false," according to the charge sheet.

Maj. Hector Infante, a spokesperson for the Marine Corps Training and Education Command, confirmed Friday that Clawson was sentenced during a court-martial Sept. 13 under all of the specifications included in the charge sheet.

Clawson wore the unauthorized decorations between Jan. 1, 2019, and Oct. 20, 2023, a period of roughly four years and nine months, according to the charge sheet.

During this time, Clawson served in several leadership positions, including as the sergeant major of the Marine Corps Air Facility and the Manpower Management Division, both of which are in Quantico, Virginia, Infante confirmed. He has been assigned to Headquarters Battalion, Training and Education Command, since 2023.

"Of note, he is only administratively attached to TECOM," Infante said in an email.

Anthony Anderson, an Army veteran and founder of Guardian of Valor -- an organization that investigates false claims of awards and service, said that he was "a little shocked" when he reviewed the charge sheet, given Clawson's high rank.

"From what I've seen over the past decade or so, it's probably one of the biggest cases of stolen valor on active duty, especially coming from someone at the highest enlisted rank in the Marine Corps," Anderson told Military.com in an interview Monday.

Clawson was not charged under the official Stolen Valor Act, a 2013 law that covers fraudulent claims, typically from civilians or veterans, of valor awards like the Medal of Honor, Purple Heart and combat devices, among other decorations. However, the term has been used to colloquially describe false claims of service over the last two decades.

Anderson said that, in his experience, it is rare for an active-duty service member to wear unauthorized decorations while in uniform -- or at least be caught for it -- citing only "a handful" of other cases he had seen in the years he has been investigating these claims. He said he was particularly surprised at Clawson's unauthorized wear of the Purple Heart and Combat Action Ribbon.

"You're portraying to people that you've served in combat and you were wounded," Anderson said. "And that portrays a type of respect and [admiration] from other Marines that would look up to him for that. That's probably what he was after."

Clawson also wore the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, which was awarded during the early days of the conflict to service members who deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq and other places, according to Pentagon policy. That award was eventually replaced with individual campaign medals.

The Marine Corps released Clawson's actual awards and decorations to Military.com on Monday. Those records showed two sea service deployments instead of the seven he claimed. The records did not specify where those deployments were, but they did not include the Afghanistan or Iraq campaign medals.

His records also did not show a Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon or Kosovo Campaign Medal. He earned two Meritorious Service Medals and five Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals, among other decorations.

Clawson enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1996 and held the military occupational specialty, or MOS, of motor vehicle operator, according to his records.

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