NEW: David Flippo Repeatedly Claimed He Served In Operation Desert Storm. He Was Actually At College At The Time.

• Falsely claiming he earned a Bronze Star for Valor when he didn’t,
• Being fired from his role at Eielson Air Force Base over “his ability to command,”
• Being fired from his role at a financial services firm for presumably lying to veterans and military families,
• Listing multiple dead people on his campaign donor rolls,
• Refusing to disclose legally required information about his personal finances despite loaning his campaign $1.8 million,
• Pissing off the current, retiring Republican in NV02 so much that the congressman voted third party,
• And more!

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Mother Jones: David Flippo Misrepresented His Gulf War Military Record

• David Flippo, the Republican nominee for Congress in a competitive Nevada district, has repeatedly claimed he served in Operation Desert Storm. 
• Yet, according to a US Air Force spokesperson, Flippo was not on active duty until nine months after that military campaign ended.
• Flippo, who served as an enlisted airman before going back to college and becoming an officer, entered active duty as an officer on December 10, 1991.
• Combat operations against Iraq by the United States and its allies during Operation Desert Storm began on January 17, 1991, and ended on February 28. 
• They were preceded by the troop buildup during Operation Desert Shield, which began in August 1990 and continued until the start of Desert Storm.
• Flippo has claimed he was in the “desert” in 1991. As he put it at a 2024 fundraiser during his first run for Congress: “Think about when I served, ’85 to ’09. What the heck was happening? What happened in ’91? What happened in ’03? I was in all of that. I was in the desert all that time.”  
• The February 8, 1991, edition of Montana State’s student newspaper places Flippo at the university during the war.
• As first reported by the conservative outlet Nevada News & Views, Flippo, who retired as an Air Force officer in 2009, has repeatedly said on the campaign trail that he was in Desert Storm and has often worn a hat that identifies him as a veteran of that war. 
• Flippo has already faced accusations of exaggerating his military record. His campaign falsely claimed that he had a Bronze Star with valor that he did not earn.
• The Reno Gazette-Journal has also reported that Flippo was relieved of his command as an Air Force squadron commander in 2008. He left the Air Force the following year.
• Flippo has reported putting more than $2.5 million into his campaigns, despite having no obvious source of such wealth. The Nevada Republican has failed to file legally required financial disclosures dating back to 2023, when he launched his first bid for Congress. 
• Flippo also has ties to a dubious Arizona land venture that says it aims to produce “constant” 20 percent returns for 20 years.
• The Washington Sun and Wall Street Journal have reported that Flippo’s campaign claimed to have received donations from two dead people.
• In September, Flippo was accused of stolen valor after his campaign falsely claimed that he received a Bronze Star with valor for his service in the second Iraq war, when he actually has the far more common standard Bronze Star. After the Washington Post revealed those false claims, Flippo said his staff made an honest mistake.
• The problem with that explanation was that Flippo repeatedly wore a hat featuring V-shaped emblems that suggested he had earned a Bronze Star with valor. After photos of him in the hat emerged, Flippo blamed his grandkids for putting the emblems on it. (Flippo wore the hat, which also identified him as a Desert Storm veteran, for years.)
• “You don’t do things to exaggerate your military service,” [retired Army lieutenant colonel Scott] Maryott said. “The people that are most humble about their military service probably did the most. And it’s people that exaggerate their service that really show a character flaw.”