Wes Moore Faces More Questions About His Military Service

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is facing fresh allegations of having exaggerated his military experience, after a year-long Spotlight on Maryland investigation yielded “no documentary evidence” to support his claim of having “led soldiers into combat in Afghanistan.”

Spotlight on Maryland is a joint venture between the Baltimore Sun and the TV news stations FOX 45 and WJLA.

In a May 2022 post on X, Moore wrote, “When I was an Army captain and led soldiers into combat in Afghanistan, we lived by a simple principle: Leave no one behind.”

It wasn’t the first time Moore had made such a claim.

According to the report published by the Sun, “Moore’s public narrative about experiencing direct-fire combat predates the 2022 post.” Moore used language in both his 2015 book “The Work: My Search for a Life That Matters,” and in an interview for the USO magazine “On Patrol” a year earlier, suggesting he was an experienced combat leader and including vivid descriptions of a firefight.

During a 2021 appearance on “The David Rubestein Show,” Moore was asked directly if he had requested an office job to avoid getting shot at in Afghanistan. “No, not at all,” Moore responded. “I was very clear. I went over and led a group of paratroopers as a special operations officer over there working in information operations. And we were very much in the field.”

Moore further added, “I literally, within the first days of Afghanistan, I started seeing first-hand, literally when you see your first firefight, you start seeing just what kind of fighting is going on in Afghanistan.”

According to the Sun, “Military records reviewed by Spotlight show no evidence that Moore, a lieutenant assigned as a brigade headquarters staff officer, experienced firefights in Afghanistan as his public narrative conveys.”

The report added, “He was not awarded a decoration for the firefight he describes, nor was he awarded the Army’s Combat Action Badge [for any such battle].”

Moore would later earn the Combat Action Badge for a later attack on his base.

The Sun has asked the governor and his superior officer, then Lt. Col. Mike Fenzel, to provide evidence of Moore leading soldiers into combat, but their request was repeatedly denied.

Moore’s Service

Moore was deployed in Afghanistan from August 2005 to March 2006. As the Sun reports, “He deployed to Afghanistan at a time when relatively few Americans were volunteering for military service, and any such service deserves recognition.”

However, he was stationed at brigade headquarters, serving in a staff role as chief of information operations (focused on psychological operations and civil affairs), not as an infantry or special operations officer leading paratroopers in the field.

The Sun said it was unable to uncover any documented evidence Moore was involved in combat and claims two of Moore’s senior officers “dodged” the newspaper’s questions on the matter.

As of yet, Moore has not responded to the specific allegations in this new article. The Daily Signal also reached out to the governor’s office but did not hear back by publication time.

However, in 2024, in response to another Spotlight on Maryland story challenging Moore’s military claims, the governor defended his overall service in Afghanistan and blasted the conservative Sinclair-owned Spotlight as “right-wing drivel,” calling the piece a “political hit job” and part of an effort by “MAGA billionaires” to undermine him.

The Bronze Star That Wasn’t (Before It Was)

Moore has faced previous scrutiny over his descriptions of his military record.

He claimed on his 2006 White House fellowship application that he had received a Bronze Star, which at the time was not true.

“For my work,” he wrote, “the 82nd Airborne Division have awarded me the Bronze Star Medal and the Combat Action Badge.” Moore would be awarded the badge several months after his application, but was not awarded the medal until 2024.

The incident first emerged during his 2022 Democrat primary. According to Fox News, Moore’s team accused FOX 45’s reporter of bias and “a smear campaign.”

In 2024, both The New York Times and Associated Press reported on how Moore did not, as he claimed on the application, have a Bronze Star. Regarding those reports, Moore said in a statement it had been an “honest mistake.”

Moore’s deputy brigade commander Fenzel had recommended him for a Bronze Star, gotten the necessary approvals, and urged him to include that in his White House fellowship application. Fenzel backs Moore’s version of events.

“I sincerely wish I had gone back to correct the note on my application. It was an honest mistake, and I regret not making that correction,” Moore said.

He also told Politico in a recent interview that media questioning of his military service “pisses me off.” It “pisses me off because it’s like, all I’ve ever tried to do was serve this country.”

“You know who it’s not coming from? The United States Army. They don’t question my story. You know who doesn’t question my story? The 82nd Airborne Division, who I served with in Afghanistan.”

The Times noted that PBS host Gwen Ifill in 2008 and CBS “Late Night” host Stephen Colbert in 2010 introduced Moore as a Bronze Star recipient, and he failed to correct them both times.

Moore eventually would be awarded the Bronze Star by Joe Biden in 2024, with the 18-year gap in receiving the honor blamed on delays in “paperwork.”

However, Trump’s War Department chided the governor for previously allowing the lingering impression he had a Bronze Star, stating, “Wes Moore is a perfect example of a politician who inflates his resume in hopes no one notices.”

When asked by Fox News’ Will Cain in August 2025 for comment, Moore responded, “I’m very proud of my service, and I’m thankful that the United States military has recognized my service in Afghanistan with both a Bronze Star and a Combat Action Badge.”

What We Know

Moore did volunteer for military service. He was deployed to Afghanistan. His service in wartime earned him a Bronze Star and a Combat Action Badge. However, his suggestion that he “led men into combat” remains unsupported by public reports. And for a man discussed as a potential presidential candidate, this will remain a challenge.

As the Sun wrote, “That absence of detail, by itself, does not disprove it happened. But paired with the lack of corroboration from the Army, from Moore’s former brigade leadership, or Moore himself, it leaves a substantial hole in an important part of his public narrative.”