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Dr. Ben Carson is not the first politician or candidate running for the presidency to fabricate a story about his background, but he is the most recent. You may have heard that GOP candidate Ben Carson claimed that he was offered a full scholarship into the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, according to POLITICO, “Ben Carson admits fabricating West Point scholarship,” but according to West Point, they have no record of him ever applying. In fact, according to West Point, there is no such thing as a “full scholarship.” If an applicant is accepted, all costs are covered for the student after a rigorous vetting process beginning with an appointment from a member of Congress or Government official. Furthermore, Dr. Carson states in his book “Gifted Hands” that, when he was 17 years old in 1969, and a ROTC student in Detroit, he was introduced to Gen. William Westmoreland who, at the time, was the commander of the U.S forces in Vietnam. There are also discrepancies regarding his conversation with Gen. Westmoreland.
Subsequent to the POLITICO news story, the Carson campaign claims that their candidate was not offered a full scholarship, but was offered the chance to attend one of the military schools due to his outstanding service in his high school ROTC; however, Carson decided against going into the military, as he wanted to pursue a career in medicine. The Carson campaign is now blaming the media for a “political hit job.” Carson now states that he may have been introduced to Gen. Westmoreland, possibly at a ROTC event.
We are not, under any circumstances, criticizing or endorsing Dr. Ben Carson’s bid for the presidency. However, regardless of whether you believe the candidate’s assertion that the media is involved in a “political hit job” or POLITICO’s assumption that Dr. Carson lied, this is yet another example of why it is necessary to hire a professional and licensed private investigator to conduct a background check on an individual who is being considered for an integral position within business, academia or government. People fabricate elements of their career on resumes that lead to embarrassment from the former head football coach of the University of Notre Dame to the former CEO of Yahoo to name just two of many. Checking on someone’s credentials needs to be a critical element of the hiring process.
Integrated Security Services is a boutique private investigation firm, whose staff will take the time to review and analyze all background checks. The client will not just receive a computer printout with the results, but each background check is assigned a case manager, who will be responsible for preparing a detailed report. While, we certainly would enjoy the challenge of doing background checks on politicians especially someone running for higher office, any type of position whether it’s a janitorial position or a business partnership would receive the utmost attention from the staff at Integrated Security Services.
