Snowden Did Not Give Accurate Account of His Military Service

Military blog Blackfive has identified a falsehood in Edward Snowden’s self-reported biography.

When Snowden came forward to announce that he was the person behind the NSA leaks he told the Guardian a story about his past. According to the Guardian “In 2003, he enlisted in the US army and began a training program to join
the Special Forces…After he broke both his legs in a training accident, he was discharged.”

But blogger Uncle Jimbo at BlackFive contacted the Special Warfare Center and School
and got the following response “Snowden was never a student at SWCS. He broke his legs while at Fort Benning. His intent was to enter the X-ray program – but that never happened and would not have happened because he only had a GED. Hope this helps.”

So not only was Snowden not in a Special Forces fast track when he was injured, apparently he could not have gotten in because he only had a GED. This of course does not mean that the documents Snowden has handed over are not accurate. It does suggest that he may be prone to a bit of exaggeration about himself.