COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Surprise U.S. Senate nominee Alvin Greene frequently mentions his 13 years of military service, but records obtained Thursday by The Associated Press show that the veteran who has called himself an "American hero" was considered a lackluster service member at best.

The records, which document his superiors' decisions to pass over Greene for promotion, cite mistakes as severe as improperly uploading sensitive intelligence information to a military server, and as basic as an overall inability to clearly express his thoughts and perform basic tasks.

Greene, 32, won a surprise victory in the June 8 Democratic primary. Greene handily defeated Vic Rawl, a former lawmaker and judge who had been considered an easy win by the party establishment.

Up to that point, Greene had done no visible campaigning and had no website, fundraising or staff.

In the weeks since, Greene has given a series of awkward interviews to reporters clamoring for more information on the unemployed man who lives in Manning with his ailing father. In one interview, he suggested that the state's economy could be improved by making and selling action figures depicting him in his uniform. On Sunday, Greene gave his first public speech, a 6 1/2-minute recitation of his previous comments and commitment to jobs and education. He now has a website and says he has raised less than $1,000.

Greene has often mentioned his military service, saying he first came up with the idea to seek political office while serving in Korea. But the veteran has also refused to go into detail about his service, merely saying he won numerous decorations and left the military honorably but involuntarily.

At his home in Manning on Thursday, Greene told an AP reporter who reviewed the documents with him that the evaluations show he was discriminated against by military supervisors, but he did not explain what that meant.

"I'm telling you who they promote: The terrorists and the communists," said Greene, wearing a blue U.S. Air Force T-shirt. "This is why we need to overhaul the military and get these people out."

The records obtained by AP only reveal a small slice of Greene's service record, his three years with the U.S. Air Force. After serving in junior ROTC in high school, Greene entered the Air National Guard in 1995, serving there until 2002.

In July of that year, he entered the Air Force, serving first as an intelligence librarian responsible for analyzing reports and briefings at Shaw Air Force Base near Sumter.

In a performance report two years later, Greene received adequate marks for performing tasks assigned to him, complying with standards and training requirements. But Greene's reviewer marked him as an ineffective leader who lacked organization and was "unable to express thoughts clearly."

Greene is "usually capable of handling mundane tasks with supervision" but is "not able to adapt to any changes to daily routine," the reviewer wrote, also noting that Greene had received multiple disciplinary actions for failing to perform his duties.

Greene was also written up for posting sensitive information on a military Internet server, a mistake that resulted in a three-day work stoppage. Records showed Greene was kept at Shaw while the rest of his unit deployed after leadership "recognized his inability to contribute to the wartime mission."

Greene protested the denial, writing that the reviewer "only concentrates on presenting a negative perception of me by making false statements of my character" and saying the reviewer and other airmen "create a hostile work environment."

A year later, Greene was evaluated again, this time in his new job as an analyst working with the weapons of mass destruction section. But Greene's job had little to do .....

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Being part of the military, people experience this all the time. They slaunder us just to promote someone else who is part of the good ole boy click. All of those writings about Greene is most likely lies!

by   
Tisampson
July 23, 2010, 1:48 pm
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Sissyray 20, ur an a**.

by   
Nickstylz37
July 23, 2010, 12:55 pm
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I hope Greene won't be mediocre as a US Senator in the event he wins the election.

by   
Navi12
July 23, 2010, 12:43 pm
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Again folks don't listen to the hype...Remember the liar Vilsack? Got somebody fired for nothing? The fact is Mr Greene did serve his country.He put on the uniform for 13 years. Ask Jim Demint if he ever served his country like Mr Greene? Put up or shut up..Only the few and brave can say that.The lazy conservatives sit at home and always say."Go get them boys." The cowards..

by   
Jimmyg
July 23, 2010, 10:44 am
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Organizing information I mean.

by   
CAmira
July 23, 2010, 9:52 am
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I'm curious as to what his high school (and college if he attended) transcript looks like. If his grades were only so-so, then maybe his service performance reviews were on target. If his reviewers' comments are truthful (and it's hard to tell because reviewers often have hidden agendas), and if it's true that Mr. Greene required a daily to-do list, then that suggests to me that Mr. Greene might suffer from ADHD or some other inability to organize information. That's a critical skill for anyone who aspires to be a senator.

by   
CAmira
July 23, 2010, 9:51 am
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Sadly, My boyfriend and me broke up a month ago. yeah.. i'm young ,beautiful,lonely and still hurting.i may be in need of someone to love..still..My friends told me about A G EM I N GL E .c o M and i got curious about it.. they met their boyfriends there.,It's the best place to meet an older boyfriend or a younger girlfriend. i cant risk myself..So i got a usename(Anny888) there in order to find a new boyfriend.is it wrong?

by   
Sissyray20
July 23, 2010, 8:10 am
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I find it hard to believe that this guy is for real. I am confident that some conservative, posing as a democrat, put him up to this in exchange for pay or some other gratuity. After what I saw happen to bill clinton, I'll bet that his existance on the public stage is intended to embarrass the democratic party. It seem everybody wants their 15 minutes even at the risk of making fools of themselves.

by   
Dkg316
July 23, 2010, 7:54 am
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He still seems like a genius as compared to Sarah Pallin. But I don't understand why this is an issue anyway. What is needed in Washington is someone with compassion and empathy for the common man who understands the plight of the 95% of Americans who have not been adequately represented during the G'dubya years.

by   
Soulofaman5.0
July 23, 2010, 5:35 am
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