Ex-Fort Lewis soldier accused of deserting

Ex-Fort Lewis soldier accused of deserting, lying about combat tours
The News Tribune
BY ADAM ASHTON
Staff writer
January 13, 2014

Veterans found Shakely’s story suspicious as soon as it aired. Skeptics posted the KTXL piece to the blog This Ain’t Hell, which identifies people who publicly tout false military experience.

A one-time Fort Lewis soldier who trumped up his military experience in a TV interview last year is facing time in prison on charges that he deserted his unit and falsely claimed to be a combat veteran.

Kevin Shakely of Sacramento, Calif., allegedly evaded law enforcement agencies for seven years, once reportedly slipping through their grasp at SeaTac Airport.

When Army police started raising pressure on him in August, Shakely, 28, contacted Sacramento’s KTXL Fox 40 News and claimed he was an honorably discharged Iraq and Afghanistan veteran being harassed by the Army.

“This is not how you treat somebody that went through what I had to go through and made the sacrifices I had to make,” he told KTXL.

Shakely in fact spent less than six months in uniform before deserting. Army records show he completed his initial training and spent just six days at his first duty station – Fort Lewis, before its reorganization as Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
read more here