At Valley Forge commencement, Wes Moore reflects as service record questioned

Questions about Gov. Wes Moore's military record have followed him through politics, but on Saturday he returned to the place that first put him on that path - and that he tried repeatedly to run away from - Valley Forge Military Academy and College.

Moore delivered the commencement address at the suburban Philadelphia institution as it prepared to graduate its final class from its grades 7-12 academy, which is shutting down after nearly a century. The college will remain open.

The visit came against the backdrop of ongoing scrutiny over Moore's military record- including questions raised in reporting by Spotlight on Maryland and others, as well as from political campaigns about aspects of his service timeline and applications - even as he used the stage to revisit how that service began.

Moore acknowledged the unlikely arc that brought him back to the campus where, as a teenager, he once followed a fake map given to him by upperclassmen and spent a night lost in the woods during one of several escape attempts.

"When I first walked onto this campus, the only thing going through my mind was how fast could I leave," Moore told graduates. "But as I'm walking back on this campus today, the only thing going through my mind is how thankful I am to call this place home."

Moore, 47, spent seven years at Valley Forge, graduating from the academy before earning an associate degree from the college. After watching his father die at 3 years old, Moore told the cadets he was an angry kid, skipping school and getting handcuffed by 11.

His mother, also in attendance Saturday, "was threatening to send (him) to military school" since he was 8, Moore said. By 13, despite promises he made to his mother to work harder, Moore was enrolled in Valley Forge.

In his address, the governor repeatedly tied his own rise - from struggling student to Rhodes scholar, Army officer and governor - to lessons learned at Valley Forge.

Moore participated in Army ROTC at the school and later enlisted in the Army Reserve under a scholarship program that paid more than $25,000 toward his tuition, according to federal records. Valley Forge is one of only four military junior colleges in the country that participates in the Army's Early Commissioning Program, which allows cadets to become reserve officers after two years of college.

Moore later deployed to Afghanistan for more than seven months as part of the U.S. Army.

During Saturday's speech, he recalled being challenged by then-Maj. Michael R. Fenzel while Moore was living in London after completing graduate studies at Oxford University.

"When are you going to get in the fight?" Moore recalled Fenzel asking him about the war in Afghanistan.

Moore said he looked down at the Valley Forge class ring he still wears daily and realized "something was missing."

The commencement address also came as Moore continues to face renewed scrutiny over parts of his military record.

Spotlight on Maryland, a partnership among The Baltimore Sun, FOX45 and WJLA in Washington D.C., has reported that Moore's path to deployment - including the timing of his training, the nature of his assignments and the role of Fenzel as a senior mentor - did not follow a typical Army trajectory and remains the subject of ongoing scrutiny.

FOX45 reported in 2022 that Moore allowed media to introduce him multiple times as a Bronze Star recipient, despite not having received the award. Two years later, The New York Times reported that Moore himself made the claim, incorrectly stating on a 2006 White House fellowship application that he had received a Bronze Star, even though he had not.

Moore later acknowledged the inaccuracy, saying a superior officer who recommended him for the medal told him to include it on the application because he believed the approval was forthcoming.

Moore said he trusted the officer and that "is why it was part of the application, plain and simple."

Questions have also surfaced about delays in completing training requirements after Moore received his Army commission through the ROTC program. Records reviewed by Spotlight on Maryland show that on Feb. 22, 2005 - six years, nine months and 15 days after receiving his commission - 1st Lt. Wes Moore reported to the U.S. Army Military Police School at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, to complete the basic course required to become a Military Police commissioned officer. It was nearly four years later than the Army's maximum delay time allowed for.

In the governor's race, two of Moore's Republican opponents have released their military service records, calling on Moore to do the same. That hadn't happened as of Saturday afternoon.

Moore's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the governor's military record on Saturday.

Moore's engagement at Valley Forge is one of several scheduled commencement addresses he'll make this spring. Later this month, Moore will speak at Charlotte, North Carolina's Johnson C. Smith University on May 17 and at Frostburg State University on May 21.

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