Joel Eric Lisson Special Forces Fraud And Fake Survival Skill Instructor – Guardian Of Valor
Bend Oregon- Team SGT from Professional Soldiers.com, sends us the official records he acquired on one Joel Eric Lisson. We became aware of this situation after an anonymous fan let us know that Shawn Jewell, who owns R.E.A.C.T(a business that teaches Defensive Tactics and other techniques) had been lied to and employed this poser.
Shawn met Joel several years ago and was told by him and several friends of his that he was a former Special Forces medic. So not thinking this guy would lie about service to his country, he trusted him and eventually invited him to help with his business.
Well after a while, as with all posers and embellishers, his lie began to unfold. Someone sent an inquiry to our friends over at ProfessionalSoldiers.com to see if Joel was ever Special Forces. Well once the records came back it was confirmed that Joel was a liar. Mr. Jewell(Owner of REACT)posted the following about this:
Good Morning, Shawn Jewell here.
I am overwhelmed with the positive support and response to these circumstances. I was introduced to Mr. Lisson by a friend in 2007, and later ended up working together for a while. I was told of his “service” by others, who of course he had lied to, and I never had reason to question, I actually believe in honor and integrity and expected no less.
I never saw Mr. Lisson teach anything above basic level, obviously now it was to minimize his exposure, and although I have now learned he told many behind my back that he was lead instructor and “coaching me along”, Complete nonsense. I have always lead ALL of the official classes with any real certifications, except a few very basic “non-certified wilderness survival” courses, which although Mr. Lisson attended these classes as “lead instructor” everyone else did the work, he did offer some lecture on basic principles, and then would “allow” others to work with the students in hands on drills/training/ etc.
Asking to see his credentials seems obvious now, but then it was not in question and we had no reason to doubt, unfortunately for him, the longer we worked together, the more things started to surface. Therefore an investigation was opened that, unknown to me, would reveal many character, personal history and of course military flaws.
Once real credentials were questioned, things went badly very quickly and credentials as well as personal history turned out to be falsified, his scam was over.
I am saddened that he took advantage of good people and lied his way through people’s trust, but I am most disturbed that he used honor and integrity, a false faith in GOD, and a perverted image of the true heroes, our men and women who choose to serve to defend our country and our communities so that others can enjoy the freedoms so sacrificially earned.
Now we must persevere to rebuild relationships damaged, uphold the reputation I have worked my whole life to represent and move on, I will not let others deceptions and poor life choices detour the path that I believe GOD has set for me, I will not let others poor choices and actions “win” by causing so much disruption of the truth that the good guys end up following in poor choices also. He is simply not worth it. Please feel free to contact me, if there are any questions or concerns, past or present.
Respectfully, Shawn