Group Outs Fake SEAL at Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. thought it had a former U.S. Navy SEAL helping manage security for its top executives and members of the world’s wealthiest family. Instead, it had a shark.

George Hardy, an assistant director of the company’s executive security detail (Wal-Mart’s equivalent of the Secret Service), was recently exposed as a phony SEAL after a tip from a co-worker prompted an inquiry by an independent group called Phony Seal Busters. The group is composed of retired Navy personnel, mostly Vietnam War veterans, interested in protecting the honor of fallen comrades.

Hardy, who doesn’t have a concealed handgun permit on file with the state of Arkansas, was reached twice by phone but had no comment.

His duties included planning and executing protection measures for company officers and members of the Walton family. So how could a fake penetrate the Waltons’ trusted inner circle?

Security industry experts say companies and celebrities around the globe face similar situations all the time. Ronald H. Relf, a former SEAL and 1996 retiree from the Denver Police Department, is director of international operations for the security firm Risk Mitigation Group in Pittsburgh.

Relf, whose clients have included Imelda Marcos, other international celebrities and corporate officers, said that often, dignitaries are “good folks” and are simply too trusting.

“When a client realizes they’ve given a liar the responsibility of protecting their lives, they feel violated,” Relf said. “A bodyguard’s integrity must be above reproach.”

Relf said serving on a SEAL team is not tantamount to doing quality security work. Nor is every former SEAL automatically qualified to be a bodyguard. But, he said, through movies such as “Under Siege,” Hollywood has romanticized the Navy’s most elite fighting force to the point that many high-profile clients believe hiring a former SEAL guarantees their safety.

The problem is that there aren’t that many former SEALs to go around.

Todd H. Willebrand, assistant public affairs officer at the Naval Special Warfare Command in San Diego, said that of the 1,500 credential inquiries the base receives annually, only about 10 percent of the subjects of the inquiries are really SEALs.

“If you’re hiring a guy for corporate security, always check him out,” Willebrand said.

SEAL’ed fate

Hardy, who actually did serve in the Navy, was hired by Wal-Mart’s loss prevention division in May 1992 and climbed the corporate ladder to executive security. When he was hired, Hardy didn’t list having been a SEAL on his resume. But co-workers confirmed that throughout his career, Hardy boasted about his SEAL service. Then last month in Kansas City, Mo., time ran out on Hardy’s credibility.

In front of more than 2,000 Wal-Mart employees, Hardy was presented with a “Hero Watch” wristwatch service award by Wal-Mart’s director of loss prevention, Dave Gorman. Hardy was introduced as “a longtime Navy SEAL.”

One high-level Wal-Mart employee, already suspicious of Hardy’s “war stories,” saw a video of the award presentation. The employee began checking into the bodyguard’s past out of concern for the Walton family. The employee requested anonymity, fearing termination if “outing” Hardy embarrassed the world’s largest retailer.

Among Hardy’s alleged boasts is that he killed 16 men when he was a SEAL, including killing one “with a rolled-up newspaper.”

On Feb. 7, Janet L. Murray, Force Judge Advocate at SpecWar Command, answered a Freedom of Information Act request from the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal. She said Hardy was a fake.

Jay Allen, Wal-Mart’s vice president of corporate affairs, said further action concerning Hardy, including his employment status, would be confidential. But Allen did say that Hardy had misrepresented himself to the company.

“Whether or not George was a Navy SEAL was never a consideration in hiring him,” Allen said. “At the same time, we have a great respect for the reputation and the work of the Navy SEALs, and we appreciate and completely understand why they would be deeply concerned about someone misrepresenting themselves like this.”

Elite societies

Former Navy underwater photographer Steve Waterman of South Thomaston, Maine, and retired SEAL Capt. Larry Bailey of Alexandria, Va., lead the Phony SEAL Busters. The Medal of Honor and Prisoners of War societies have similar watchdog groups that expose phonies.

Waterman said the group had outed thousands of phonies including customs agents, political candidates, Hollywood stuntmen, bodyguards, police, and agents of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

“We do it for the same reason people march in Fourth of July parades,” said Waterman, author of the book “Just A Sailor.”

“The SEALs are about integrity and honor, and people who jump on their bandwagon tread on the ground that SEAL blood has been spilled on. … And what will the headlines read the first time a fake’s in a situation he can’t handle? ‘Navy Seal couldn’t stop attack.'”

The Phony SEAL Busters are investigating as many as 40 alleged SEALs in prominent security positions. The group has access to an extensive, updated database that includes all former team members.

Executive protection

Corporate security is a taboo subject. Companies don’t want any publicity about it because a weakness could be exposed. The media steer clear of the issue because information is hard to come by and for fear of prompting attacks on companies.

Several Northwest Arkansas companies contacted about their security and related hiring procedures declined to comment.

But the truth is executive protection should not be an afterthought, said Dick O’Connell, former FBI special agent in charge of Fayetteville.

“Do a security assessment,” O’Connell said. “Anyone you hire for corporate security needs a thorough background investigation. Vary your route to and from work every day. And always conduct exit interviews, even with people who are fired. Threats nowadays also come from the inside, so know how the people you work with feel.”

O’Connell, owner of O’Connell Investigative Associates Inc. in Fayetteville, also suggested using “biometric” security systems that allow office access on the basis of fingerprints or retinal scans. He said lighting and noise are intruders’ two biggest fears.

Steve Mankin, owner of Steve Mankin Inc. of Rogers, is an independent security consultant who previously served for 22 years as Wal-Mart’s director of loss prevention. He said the best sources for leads to credible bodyguards include the Arkansas State Police and national security associations.

“We always like to do consequence analysis,” Mankin said. “We look at possible occurrences and how they might impact a business. If a plane crashes into your business, it would have a big impact, but there’s a low probability of that happening.

“We like to identify risk factors. The big thing is pay attention to people around you.”

Security not a loss

Wal-Mart’s security division overall, which takes in executive protection, in-store security against shoplifters and customer safety, is considered one of the best in the retail industry.

Britt Wood, senior director of research with the International Mass Retailers Association in Roslyn, Va., said Wal-Mart is known for running a tight ship, especially when it comes to “shrink” — a retail term for merchandise that’s either stolen or lost in a company’s system.

Wood said the retail industry’s national average for shrink is 1.7 percent of sales. Allen, the Wal-Mart spokesman, wouldn’t be specific but said his company’s shrink rate is way below that figure.

Wood said what retail companies annually spend on loss prevention represents an average of 0.5 percent of their sales. (That would calculate to $825 million last year, in Wal-Mart’s case.) When you add in security protection and security capital expenses, that climbs to 0.79 percent.

“With more than 100 million people coming in and out of our stores every week, our security people have to be innovative,” Allen said. “They’re mostly former law enforcement officers, military people and others from loss prevention backgrounds. They try to make our stores safe and enjoyable and they do a great job.”