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Malcolm Nance talks a lot. An awful lot. And almost always about Malcolm Nance. Nance, MSNBC’s former go-to military “expert” has once again talked far too much about himself, and now he’s painted himself into a very tight corner.

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Nance’s yarns about his military service have been challenged by other veterans for years, and when Nance had a severe TDS-inspired meltdown on X last week, veterans again called him out. Nance then issued a challenge to one of them, Dave Parke, to prove his claims on national TV or radio.

Parke replied:

Generally, veterans aren’t inclined to mock fellow veterans – unless they lie about what they did. If, for example, a veteran lies about being in combat and they weren’t, combat vets tend to get rightfully piqued about that. That happened to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Walz’s excuse was to claim that he’s a “knucklehead.” When one is a high-profile “expert” like Malcolm Nance, veterans tend to notice when they make claims that seem, well, incredible.

On LinkedIn, Nance claims the following:

Nance is a former career US Naval Intelligence officer specializing in counter-terrorism, intelligence and violent extremism as advisor for the U.S. government’s law enforcement, Homeland Security and Intelligence agencies. As an Arabic-speaking special intelligence collections operator, field interrogator he provided top secret anti & counter-terrorism support to national intelligence agencies while on numerous reconnaissance and combat operations in the Balkans, Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa. Now a member of the Board of Advisors at the International Spy Museum in Washington DC, Mr. Nance was honored as one of the Noteworthy African-Americans in American Espionage History. He is author of the upcoming book “They Want To Kill Americans: The armed militias, fanatical terrorists and deranged ideology of the coming Trump insurgency.”

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A History of Nance’s Incredible Claims

In 2017 Nance was interviewed on C-SPAN’s “Q&A” by Brian Lamb. During that interview, Nance volunteered a lot of information. He talked about being a Chief Petty Officer and claimed that all the enlisted operators in SEAL Team 6 (It’s actually called DEVGRU) are “Chief Petty Officers.” No, they are not. He also claimed that all enlisted Delta operators are “Master Sergeants and above.” No, they are not. Randy Shughart was a Delta sniper and received the Medal of Honor for his bravery in the Battle of Mogadishu. Shughart was a Sergeant First Class.

I asked my son, a retired Navy SEAL, about the claim. He said that Nance’s claim was “patently false.” 

Lamb also asked Nance if he had ever “killed a person.” Nance answered that he had “seen” people killed. And he “put his finger on a map,” whatever that means.  

Nance told Lamb about his experience in “cryptologic intelligence.” Retired Senior Chief Peter Morlock discussed Malcolm Nance’s resume claims in a 2018 article.

Chief Morlock said that practically no one in the cryptology community has any respect for Nance. He recalled a particularly damning episode. At the time, he didn’t know Nance from Santa Claus. While at the Naval Reconnaissance Support Activity (NRSA) center in Rota, Spain, Morlock received an early morning phone call from his commanding officer. His CO was blunt. He told him the following:  

“Open up the log book and write this down verbatim,” he said. “Chief Petty Officer Malcolm Nance is persona non grata in our spaces. You may remove him by force… now read that back to me.” After complying, my CO said good night. I did not know, nor had I heard of Malcolm Nance, but was bitterly disappointed that I did not see a uniform with that name tag on it during my watch.

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Later, when Morlock first saw Nance in person, it was post-9/11 in Bahrain:  

Nance was at the arrival air terminal and the [the] Master Chief I was with saw him, pointed him out and said, “Don’t talk to him, he’s got nothing worth listening to.” Nance came over to my Master Chief; neither offered their hands. Then Nance said, “Don’t tell anyone that I’m here.” My Master Chief didn’t reply, just said to me that he would be surprised if anyone cared. I agreed and couldn’t care less at the time; it was my first exercise with DEVGRU and that was my focus. 

Nance has claimed to be a combat vet, and apparently, he can wear a CAR (Combat Action Ribbon). Again, looks can deceive, and his CAR doesn’t tell the full story. Morlock explained: 

[Y]es, the authorization to wear the ribbon was placed into his service record after he left NSGA Rota, yet as a matter of honor; he had failed to be honest and explain that he was never in combat. The Fleet Navy has its own standard for that award. In Nance’s case he was either on or near a ship that fired missiles, or was close to a SCUD splash down. When this happens, the award goes to all members of the ship(s). As a matter of honor, his personal awards do not show direct action or even influence in these matters. Certainly, no valor or Combat “V” to be noted.  

And:

I was then advised that Nance was going to San Diego in a Survival Evasion Resistance Escape (SERE) instructor billet; since he was PNG from the Cryptology community, that was practically the only spot the Detailer could get him for his last duty station. Simply put, no one wanted him.    

Nance appeared on a podcast in 2019 and spoke about being a sort of spy-type dude or something. He mentioned Shannon Kent, the wife of former Green Beret Joe Kent:

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When asked what the difference is between being a good soldier and a great soldier, Nance said that if Shannon Kent was killed either because she wasn’t a great soldier or because it was God’s will. Nothing about the evil suicide bomber who blew her and three others up at a cafe:

“Well, you know, let me talk more about people that I know, because I knew people in the intelligence community. And we’re talking — again, this world we’re in is sort of like — you know, this isn’t cryptological collection.

“I did, you know, Special Operations cryptology, and you might recall we lost one this year who was a legacy person from my world, Chief Shannon Kent, Senior Chief, I guess she was promoted to. And she was doing human intelligence as a Navy cryptologist Arabic interpreter in Syria alongside of special operations — a Special Operations officer, an interpreter, and a Defense Intelligence Agency human intelligence officer. But the really great ones don’t get killed. Or if they do, it’s God’s will.” 

Nance is a classy guy.

In this MSNBC spot, also from 2019, Nance is ID’d as a “Naval Intelligence Officer.” Nance was never an “Officer” in the Navy.

 

No one wanted him – except for cable news. Nance found life as an expert on MSNBC, for a while.

In 2022, Nance abruptly left his TV gig, telling Joy Reid that he was “done talking” and then going to “fight” for Ukraine. Alas, Nance was not done talking. He was interviewed in a Ukrainian park, and hilarity ensued. He was nicknamed “STANDBY!” Nance also posed for a photo of himself in his “combat kit” in Ukraine.

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Combat vets (the guys who actually saw combat) mocked him for what he was wearing, for what he wasn’t wearing, and for what he hadn’t done. In his photo, he had empty magazine pockets and an unseated magazine in his rifle. Nance’s explanation was precious. Nance — ever the talker — explained that he was too busy “clearing his weapon” to notice. Joy Reid interviewed him in 2022, and he was wearing his combat costume as if he had just raided the Universal Studios LARPer kit unit.

 

The New York Times wrote a scathing article about the chaos that Nance was part of:

“Today, Mr. Nance is involved in a messy, distracting power struggle. Often, that plays out on Twitter, where Mr. Nance taunted one former ally as ‘fat and an associate of ‘a verified con artist.’”

In another New Times article, Nance is photographed in a Vogue Magazine-like glam shot again wearing his combat kit. You’ll note that the kneepad shown doesn’t have a scratch on it, almost like it came out of a closet. 

Fox News reported:

In addition, the article recounted an instance of Nance accusing a pro-Ukraine fundraising group of fraud without evidence and labeling a fellow Legion member a possible “Russian spy.” Nance, an enthusiastic proponent of Russiagate, once claimed former President Donald Trump was compromised by Russia as early as 1977. 

Waffling on Bet With Dave Parke

Back to Nance’s current social media kerfuffle(s). Parke is a veteran with self-described “two good conduct awards and hosts a veteran-centric podcast called The Team House. Nance bigfooted into Parke’s X feed and said he’d answer one question for $25,000. Parke, like hundreds of other vets, wanted Nance to answer straight-up questions like:

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  • Were you employed by CIA, and when?
  • Were you employed by the NSA and when?
  • Did you really “teach” SERE or just watch the clock at the school desk?
  • Did you go to ‘Scout Sniper School’ or did you just stay at a Holiday Inn?   

Nance changed the terms of their bet a few times, and once the money was put up by another vet he again waffled on the terms. Nance, like he was a junior genie out of the bottle, would answer only ONE question — not even three.

Parke noted that Nance claimed to have trained SWAT teams, instructing them in “leg whips.” Nance also claims to have attended “Scout Sniper School” (It’s in one of his books). That’s all, according to Nance. His sniper rifle? Nance named it “War Hammer.” 

I’m not sure what Jason Bourne Nance didn’t do, but maybe walk on the moon? If I went far enough down that rabbit hole … maybe he did.  

Perhaps Peter Morlock can sit in on an interview. Maybe Morlock can track down his former Master Chief and his former CO and they can add to the conversation and add to the questions.

I can’t wait for Nance to participate in a long-form interview. No softballs. Maybe he and Parke can arrange for Joe Rogan to do the interview. Like Kamala Harris, Nance won’t do Rogan. Too many hard questions. Harris was afraid of the questions. Nance is a lot of talk, as in, a lot of hot air. Maybe Nance really is “all that.” Maybe he’s James Bond and Jason Bourne all tied into one dude. Move over, Jack Carr, there’s a real-life version of James Reese, and his name is Malcolm Nance. 

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Dave Parke’s X feed blew up over Nance’s claims and the $25,000 bet. And mine blew up because I was tagged. All Nance has to do is sit and answer specific questions and show some evidence of his “War Hammer” sniper tales and maybe a spy story or two. Or maybe not. “He could tell us, but then he’d have to kill us.” Maybe the SEALs he claims to have trained at SERE school will come forward to say — “Yeah, that Senior Chief Nance is totally legit.” Or maybe this cartoon is closer to the truth.