As Republican congressional candidate J.R. Majewski remained unavailable to answer further questions about his military service and verification on being deployed to Afghanistan, the U.S. military said Wednesday that all public records it has access to are released.
"We don't have visibility on anything other than the fact that he deployed to Qatar," said Michael T. Dickerson, an official at the Air Force Personnel Center. "We don't have visibility on what he did when he was there, where he may have gone, where he may not have gone."
"You have to recognize that this is the Air Force," Mr. Dickerson said. "People do fly in and out of places all of the time. We can't confirm or deny that he served in Afghanistan because we [can't see] that in our databases."
Involving Mr. Majewski, a nondisclosure document or an SF-312, also known as a classified information nondisclosure agreement, or the existence of one was not located this week. "The SF-312 is a contractual agreement between the U.S. Government and you, a cleared employee, in which you agree never to disclose classified information to an unauthorized person," according to 2001 summary information posted on the National Archives website.
Such documentation did not show up to the Air Force in its records search involving Mr. Majewski's service, which spanned from Aug. 11, 1999, through Aug. 10, 2003 for active duty.
"Those agreements would be executed at the command level, typically," Mr. Dickerson said.
"I don't know how long those would be retained in a permanent personnel file if very long at all," he said.
Mr. Dickerson noted that Mr. Majewski's last post was in California at Travis Air Force Base, current home to the 60th Air Mobility Wing, the 349th Air Mobility Wing, and the 621st Contingency Response Wing.
A copy of any non-disclosure agreement or SF-312 documentation was also requested from the Majewski campaign, but none was provided.
Full military service records for anyone who is separated from the Air Force before October, 2004, are at the National Personnel Records, which is part of the National Archives. Requests were made to the archives for additional information.
Mr. Majewski, who faces U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) in the Nov. 8 election, said he could not share documents from his deployments because they are "classified."
Mr. Dickerson also was asked about the existence of any unspecified classified records involving Mr. Majewski.
"When we talk about deployments, in our system we can only see two types of deployments," Mr. Dickerson said. "They are called contingency and exercise...There are other types of deployment. If something is classified, we don't see it. And more importantly, it would not be releasable."
"We always provide the maximum amount of releasable information that we can release under the privacy act and Air Force instructions," Mr. Dickerson said.
Last week, Mr. Majewski said he had served in Afghanistan and slammed news reports suggesting he had not.
"I flew into combat zones often, specifically in Afghanistan, and I served my country proudly," he said during a brief news conference Friday at Lucas County Republican Party headquarters in Holland.
In response to a question about where he served in Afghanistan and when, he said "multiple bases" in 2002, adding he flew in and out of the "area of responsibility" multiple times.
He said that the orders and the military records that he has been able to obtain from personal files show that "all of my deployments are listed as classified," Mr. Majewski said.
No new information was available or other information available on providing any new documents, photos, or individuals that could verify Mr. Majewski's service in Afghanistan.
In follow-up coverage, news reports noted that Mr. Majewski’s campaign had said that in 2001 he was punished and demoted after getting in a “brawl” in an Air Force dormitory but that records indicate the actions were the result of him being stopped for driving drunk on a U.S. air base in Japan.
In a subsequent statement issued Wednesday via Twitter, Mr. Majewski said he was 21 at the time. “I'm not proud of it,” Mr. Majewski wrote. “I learned from it. I remain focused on the issues affecting Ohio, in 2022.”
He did not explain the contradictory information involving the brawl.
Ms. Kaptur’s office responded to the military punishment.
"J.R. Majewski has been caught in yet another lie," said Kaptur campaign manager Kyle Buda. "He's lied before, and he'll lie again. He's proven he cannot be trusted to tell the truth to voters and that he's unfit to serve the people of Ohio."
Multiple attempts to reach Mr. Majewski for an interview about multiple other topics were unsuccessful this week, including at his Port Clinton home or by telephone on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Campaign spokesman Melissa Pelletier said he was unavailable and that no time-frame was available for an interview. She suggested that questions be submitted in writing, which was declined in favor of an in-person or telephone interview. Ms. Pelletier indicated that efforts were continuing to line up an interview.
Tom Porter, executive vice president for government relations of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America group, said he was familiar with the recent news reports about Mr. Majewski.
As for the limited information about details of Mr. Majewski's service, Mr. Porter said, "It's extremely rare that somebody can't tell you where they are deployed to. I can't provide you every circumstance.”
“But that really applies to people who are working in clandestine government agency support or within U.S. Special Forces that go places sometimes they are not allowed to talk about for national security purposes,” Mr. Porter said.
Mr. Porter was asked to check whether Mr. Majewski is a member of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America or had appeared at any group functions.
"I have never had any interaction with him at all," said Mr. Porter, a Navy veteran who served in Afghanistan and the Middle East.
"I can tell you that he hasn't been one of the people that we have had fly into D.C. to speak on our behalf or anything like that," Mr. Porter said.
As far as the Air Force, all of the releasable information, no other information is available for Mr. Majewski, Mr. Dickerson said.
"We don't have his full service records," Mr. Dickerson said.
He cited the age of the records for their being at the archives.
"You are going back a long time," Mr. Dickerson said.
In a video posted this weekend, Mr. Majewski referred to inaccuracies in his military records.
The initial news report about Mr. Majewski's service stated that Mr. Majewski also lacks many of the medals that are typically awarded to those who served in Afghanistan.
While not speaking specifically about Mr. Majewski, Mr. Dickerson addressed the topic of medals.
"It is not uncommon at all for the list of awards and decorations that we have to be not up to date or incomplete," Mr. Dickerson said.
Any number of reasons exist for that to be the case, he said.
"Sometimes it could be administrative oversight where an award was not made at the time that maybe should have been," Mr. Dickerson said. "Sometimes the awards were made after the member already separated from the service."
"Sometimes there is a time lag between the time that awards are earned and the time that they are awarded," he said. "Sometimes awards aren't even authorized until quite some time after the fact, and then they are made retroactive to the place and time that the award is applicable, too."
On Wednesday, no new documents were immediately available from the Ottawa County Veterans Service Office, which serves Port Clinton.
Officials were, however, aware of the new reporting questioning Mr. Majewski's military service record and checking on the availability of any paperwork.
The office was prepared to handle inquiries about Mr. Majewski's military service information.
"I was actually a little surprised that it [inquiries] hadn't come here yet," said Sara Toris, director of the office.
"I was honestly expecting a phone call,” she said Wednesday. “I assumed we would be approached."
At the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Port Clinton, officials as a post were not weighing in on questions over Mr. Majewski's record.
David Hofacker, quartermaster at the post, said he does not know Mr. Majewski.
Mr. Hofacker is a 1967-1971 Marine veteran, who served in the Vietnam War and later retired out of the 200th Red Horse Squadron of the Air National Guard at Camp Perry.
Mr. Hofacker was asked about the VFW post endorsing candidates.
"We don't," he said.
First Published September 29, 2022, 12:35 a.m.
