A retired Army colonel is urging Maryland Governor Wes Moore to make his full military record public, saying the move could put to rest lingering allegations of stolen valor.
Moore, 47, has come under scrutiny over a 2006 application for the White House fellowship program in which he was listed as having received a Bronze Star. Critics say the decoration had not yet been awarded at the time the application was submitted.
The Democratic governor has said the discrepancy was the result of a paperwork error, an explanation echoed by his former commanding officer. Moore later apologized, noting that he did in fact receive the Bronze Star several months afterward.
Moore served in Afghanistan as an Army captain from 2005 until March 2006. He was ultimately awarded the Bronze Star for “meritorious service” tied to that deployment.
The controversy centers on timing rather than the medal itself. Opponents argue that because the honor had not yet been formally conferred when he applied for the highly competitive White House fellowship, listing it on the application raised legitimate questions.
The fellowship, designed to identify and accelerate rising leaders into senior government service, helped launch Moore’s path in public life. At 27, he won a place in the program and went on to serve as a special assistant to then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice from 2006 to 2007.
Retired Army colonel Drew Sullins has renewed the focus on the topic by analyzing Moore’s records for conservative-leaning newspaper the Baltimore Sun.
‘We have asked a wide-ranging variety of questions about his military service,’ Sullins said in an interview on Wednesday with the outlet’s Spotlight on Maryland.
An Army colonel has asked Maryland Governor Wes Moore to ‘release everything’ on his military record in order to dispel rumors about alleged stolen valor
Retired Army colonel Drew Sullins (pictured) has renewed the focus on the topic by analyzing Moore’s records for conservative-leaning newspaper the Baltimore Sun
Sullins said he wants to set the record straight on Moore’s training gaps and when he secured various awards.
Moore was also given several more accolades beyond the Bronze Star, including the Afghanistan Campaign Medal and Armed Forces Reserve Medal.
He received the Bronze Star in 2024 in a private ceremony at the governor’s residence in Annapolis, Maryland.
Lt. Gen. Michael Fenzel, Moore’s close friend and former commander who had recommended him for the medal, pinned the Bronze Star for ‘meritorious service’ onto the governor’s chest at the ceremony, the Washington Post wrote at the time.
‘I’m so happy to be in a position to right a wrong,’ Fenzel said during the ceremony, the newspaper reported.
The Democrat had been recommended for the medal while he was deployed by his superiors, including Fenzel, and Fenzel encouraged Moore to include it in the application because it had received the necessary approvals, both men said.
Moore, then 27, questioned it but said Fenzel assured him it would be awarded by the time fellows were selected. Yet the award paperwork never went through.
Around the time Moore ended his 11-month deployment, he won the White House fellowship.
Moore served as a captain in Afghanistan from 2005 until March 2006, and he was awarded a Bronze Star for ‘meritorious service’ during his time there
Moore is pictured greeting then-president Joe Biden in 2022 as he ran for the governor’s seat
The New York Times reported in August that Moore had prematurely claimed the Bronze Star on the fellowship application.
Fenzel said that the controversy was the first time he learned that Moore, a former Army captain, had never received the Bronze Star.
On learning about it, Fenzel said he immediately called the chief of staff to U.S. Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth to notify her that he planned to recommend Moore for the award again and create the paperwork anew.
This included collecting approval from Moore’s former chain of command.
Moore is considered a top contender as a presidential candidate among the Democrats for 2028.
He was first elected to political office when he won the gubernatorial race in 2023.
