Rep. Troy Nehls Defends Wearing Military Badge He Didn’t Earn

U.S. Rep Troy Nehls, R-Richmond, has stopped wearing a military service pin, a year after the Army’s confirmation that it was incorrectly awarded. However, he is still defending his military record and suggested the army revoked his badge for political reasons.

Nehls was under heavy criticism for wearing a Combat Infantryman Badge for more than a year after the Army revoked it. He said his critics try to discredit him.

“Unfortunately for me, as an America First Patriot and an outspoken member of Congress, there are no lengths to which the establishment won’t go to discredit me, including my CIB, which I was awarded over 14 years ago,” Nehls said. “Nothing more needs to be said.”

According to the Houston Chronicle, on Wednesday, Nehls appeared in the Congress without the badge. Reporters asked him why he wore it for more than a year after the Army revoked it and then it suddenly decided to stop wearing it.

“Because you guys are vultures,” he told reporters, according to NOTUS, a nonprofit newsroom. “I know what I’ve done, and I certainly don’t have to justify myself to you guys. You were probably in middle school when I was over there. So I don’t have to justify myself to you in any form or fashion. But I know the truth. And now that I don’t wear that, what are you going to talk to me about?”

Nehls served 20 years in the military. His service included deployments in Iraq in 2004 and Afghanistan in 2008. Military records, first obtained by CBS News, showed that Nehls was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge in October 2008 for his service in Afghanistan. The badge is awarded to infantrymen who engage in active ground combat.

However, in March 2023, the Army revoked the pin after confirming that he had been serving as a civil affairs officer during his deployment and was not an infantryman or Special Forces soldier.

Nehls has blasted the decision.

“In 2023, 14 years after my retirement, suddenly, the Department of the Army rescinded my CIB,” Nehls said in a Tuesday statement.

Nehls, who is member of the far-right Freedom Caucus, has based previous campaigns on claims that he “fought terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan” and that he “led troops into battle receiving 2 Bronze Stars.” A defense Department record showed that he has only one Bronze Star. However, Nehls posted a photo on social media showing two bronze stars citations.

In May, while Nehls still was wearing the revoked CIB, Nehls Press secretary told CBS News that “Congressman Nehls doesn’t wear medals he wasn’t awarded.”