Illinois Police Chief in Hot Water Over Navy SEAL Claims

The newly named police chief in a Chicago suburb is under fire because of old claims he made that he had trained as a Navy SEAL and gone on secret missions in the military, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Robert Kerkorian, who took the top spot in the Waukegan Police Department in May, acknowledged to the city that statements he made saying that he had taken part “in military actions” were false.

He maintains that he was designated as a “SEAL trainee” though Navy records show that he never began BUD/S training in Coronado.

They do reflect, however, that during his time in the Navy, from 1986-87, he was assigned to a base in Coronado.

Part of the debate is fueled by an old academic paper that surfaced in which an unidentified subject, later acknowledged to be Kerkorian, tells a detailed story of a covert foreign mission.

Kerkorian said the revelations about his past will not affect his ability to be Waukegan's police chief and that he should keep his job.