U.S. Rep. Cory Mills, an Army combat veteran who served briefly in Iraq in 2003, has, on multiple occasions, claimed to have twice been “blown up” while in service of his country as a defense contractor three years later.

On the day he took office in 2023, he told C-SPAN he “was blown up by roadside bombs in 2006.” He repeated that line nearly verbatim to CNN in 2024. His congressional biography states, “while serving abroad, Cory was struck twice in 2006.”

At the time, Mills was working for DynCorp, which had a State Department security contract in Iraq. U.S. military forces were still fighting insurgents there three years after the toppling of Saddam Hussein.

Three of Mills’ private-contractor colleagues, including one who actually was seriously injured by one of those roadside bombs, say the congressman’s story that he was “blown up” is fiction.

Attacks from Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace

In recent days, Mills has been taking incoming from one of his congressional colleagues, Rep. Nancy Mace, a South Carolina Republican. She has accused Mills of overstating his combat experience and called for his removal from House committees.

Mills was one of just four Republicans to vote with Democrats on Sept. 17 to kill Mace’s resolution to censure Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat who had spoken ill of Charlie Kirk after his Sept. 10 assassination.

That has drawn Mace’s ire.

“This guy has been parading himself around as some sort of U.S. Army special ops covert Ranger sniper James Bond 007 elite commando for years and it’s not even remotely close,” Mace posted on the social media site X. “He was an ambulance driver mainly in the motor pool.”

She challenged Mills to produce the full Form 638, which documents his achievements in order to qualify for his Bronze Star Medal.

Mills has previously faced “stolen valor” accusations by fellow soldiers, who say the claims on that form − specifically that he was involved in the dramatic rescue of two fallen soldiers in Iraq in 2003 − are false. Joe Heit, then an Army private, told NOTUS, a news website, in May that Mills did not save his life, while Mills’ sergeant, Joseph Ferrand, said, contrary to the Form 638, he had not been grabbed by an enemy insurgent and that Mills did not subdue the insurgent and save Ferrand.

Neither Heit nor Ferrand responded to messages on Sept. 22, 2025.

The blow-back from the “blown up” claims and the stolen-valor allegations come as a number of other controversies continue to dog Mills, a Donald Trump-backed Republican first elected to Florida’s 7th District in 2022.

A Columbia County judge could grant an order for protection requiring him to stay away from his ex-girlfriend, the reigning Miss United States and a Republican state committeewoman, Lindsey Langston. Mills is due to return to court on Sept. 26.

The U.S. House Committee on Ethics is probing his financial and campaign records. Earlier in the year, he faced a Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police investigation into a simple assault complaint made by a different female companion, but he was never charged.

Mills offers certificate of recognition from U.S. Embassy

Mills did not respond to a request for an interview on Sept. 22. But he has previously spoken with The News-Journal about his military service and work with DynCorp.

Mills has provided the newspaper with a photo of a certificate of recognition from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad for “prompt and brave action when your motorcades were hit by an EFP on March 15 and April 19, 2006. You exhibited the highest caliber of professionalism and your actions saved the lives of your comrades.”

The document does not suggest Mills himself was injured by either of the 2006 blasts. Mills himself, in May, told The Blaze, a conservative-leaning website founded by Glenn Beck of talk radio, that he got a concussion when he bounced his head off an armored vehicle door, was treated, and had “three days down.”

In response to one of Mace’s attacks, Mills posted a letter he said was written by one of his former DynCorp team leaders.

In the letter, Paul Sovitsky − who independently confirmed the letter’s authenticity in a phone call with The News-Journal − described Mills as a “tactically and technically sound operator” who served as a medic and did an “outstanding job” on numerous “high threat missions.”

Sovitsky described two attacks at which Mills was present.

Mills and Sovitsky were in the middle car of a three-vehicle motorcade when they were ambushed by a command-detonated IED followed by small arms fire, which struck their vehicle’s hood, side mirror and windshield, said Sovitsky, who still works in defense contracting.

“The explosion rocked the vehicle, shredding the transmission and all four tires,” Sovitsky wrote.

After they reached safety, Sovitsky realized his left eardrum was perforated.

“We all suffered from the post-blast overpressure,” Sovitsky said. “I remember Cory stating that he had struck his head on the vehicle frame and it was throbbing.”

The incident took them off the job for several days, and the U.S. Army Combat Support Hospital evaluated them, Sovitsky said in the letter.

Sovitsky told The News-Journal he wrote the July 16 letter because Mills’ staff approached him, and because it was the truth. He considered Mills a competent member of his DynCorp team in 2006, but wouldn’t vouch for the veracity of reports of Mills’ Army service.

“I am no fan of Cory’s,” Sovitsky told the newspaper. “He is his own worst enemy.”

Another of Mills’ bosses in 2006: No injury reported

Other DynCorp colleagues are skeptical of Mills’ story, but say they weren’t with him for the March 15, 2006, explosion.

Jesse Parks, 73, of Plant City, served as DynCorp’s chief of operations in Iraq and was responsible for scheduling and assigning the teams at that time.

“I can’t tell you 100% that he was or he wasn’t in that one, because we never had anybody who reported an injury report on anyone in that one,” Parks told The News-Journal. “The car got the front end smacked off it by an IED. They got the hell out of there. As far as I know in that nobody got a scratch on them.”

Parks − a Vietnam-era Navy veteran who worked for 25 years in law enforcement, mostly as a Hillsborough County sheriff’s detective, prior to joining DynCorp − said he would routinely rotate back to the United States every 90 days while serving abroad, so “something could have happened when I was gone.”

But Parks also said Mills had a reputation for being “the kind of guy that nobody wanted around.”

“He was what was commonly referred to as an opera singer. Everything he said was, ‘Me me me, me me me me me.’ That kind of guy,” Parks said. “I was always taught that … if you are the one running around telling everyone how good you are, you need to look in the mirror. It’s for other people to say you’re good at your job.”

April 19, 2006: Mills wasn’t ‘blown up’

Parks and others, though, say they are intimately familiar with the second bombing of a motorcade on April 19, 2006. Scott Kempkens was there. So was Chase Nash. Parks said he was not in the motorcade but in contact with the team by radio as it happened.

Mills, Nash and Kempkens were part of a three-vehicle motorcade traveling through Baghdad near the Ministry of Electricity building. The first two vehicles turned a corner while the third − a Hummer in which Kempkens was with three others − was struck by an explosively formed projectile, or EFP, just as it reached the corner.

“It was pretty bad. It took a chunk out of my shoulder,” Kempkens said. “It hit the rollbar and landed on my neck.”

Kempkens was also struck in the leg with shrapnel.

“It wasn’t life-threatening,” he said. “I’ve got a pretty big-sized scar from it. … Guys on my team said, ‘We can see your bones moving around inside your shoulder.'”

A second person in the Hummer, an Army National Guard sergeant whose full name couldn’t be confirmed, was also wounded, Parks said.

Kempkens immediately got on the radio and reported the attack.

Witness: Mills was in a different vehicle 30-40 yards ahead of explosion

The second vehicle in the motorcade, an armored Suburban, included Nash in the front passenger seat and Mills in the rear passenger seat, Nash told The News-Journal in a phone interview.

Nash estimated the Suburban was 30 or 40 yards ahead of the trail vehicle, the Hummer that was struck.

“We usually try to space out the vehicles so one bomb doesn’t take out multiple vehicles,” Nash said. “When I heard the bomb go off, it wasn’t a very big bombing. In fact, at first I didn’t think any of us got hit.”

When Nash heard Kempkens on the radio, the Suburban backed up to help secure the team and give medical aid to those who were injured.

Mills, who received medical training in the Army, served as the team’s medic. He helped patch Kempkens and the guardsman up while they headed to safety.

As for Kempkens, Nash said: “He’s definitely a stand-up guy.”

Baghdad in 2006 was ‘Wild West with car bombs’

Kempkens grew up in the Detroit suburbs, joined the Army in 1980, and said it “straightened me out.”

The closest Kempkens got to combat was when his unit was readying to go to Granada, a small Caribbean-island nation the United States invaded in October 1983. U.S. forces were able to topple the Marxist government within a few days, so Kempkens’ unit was never called.

After leaving the Army in 1986, Kempkens worked in corporate security at EDS, Ross Perot’s company, and then took a job in executive security working for “a wealthy family” before starting at DynCorp in 2005.

DynCorp, now a subsidiary of Amentum, was founded in 1946 and became one of the largest private military contractors, providing a range of services to military and government clients. In Iraq, the company was offering security under a State Department contract, and employees like Mills and Kempkens were personal security specialists, Parks said.

Working abroad was lucrative, as there were real dangers. Kempkens said his original pay amounted to about $180,000 annually.

“There were multiple bombings and shootings every day,” Kempkens said. “People would say it was like the Wild West, but it was the Wild West with car bombs.”

Virtually all of the personal security specialists had military backgrounds. Kempkens doesn’t remember specifically when Mills arrived, but it was shortly after him.

“For the first couple of years I knew Cory, I thought he did a pretty nice job. He could do his job. He patched us up when we were wounded,” Kempkens said.

But the more his DynCorp colleagues got to know Mills, the more they suspected he was spinning lies about his military past.

“He claimed to be a Ranger. He claimed to be a sniper. He claimed to be a medic,” Kempkens said. “It just didn’t jibe. You don’t do all of that stuff if you’re only in the Army for, say, three to four years.”

The website corymillswatch.com − a collection of documents, clips and pointed questions and accusations published online by a Seminole County businesswoman, Jade Murray, includes a copy of Mills’ DynCorp application. On it, Mills states he was part of the 75th Ranger Regiment.

A redacted version of Mills’ Form DD 214, the document that summarizes Mills’ service upon discharge, that was provided to his 2024 Republican primary opponent, Michael Johnson, is on the corymillswatch website. It shows that he served in the 325th Infantry Regiment in a company that served the headquarters staff. He earned the rank of sergeant as a combat medic who completed an emergency medical technician course and another in primary leadership development.

There is no mention of Mills serving with the Rangers, an elite special operations force.

The News-Journal made a freedom of information request for Mills’ complete Army personnel folder and DD 214 in July 2024. The Army has indicated the records are with the Office of the Chief Legislative Liaison (United States Army) (OCLL), but has not yet provided them to the newspaper.

“He made a lot of money based on embellishing his military background, and then what really makes it even worse is he got elected to Congress based on all those same lies,” Kempkens said.

What has Mills claimed about the 2006 Baghdad explosions?

In an interview after helping airlift 23 Americans out of Haiti, where conditions were deteriorating and gangs controlled the airport, Mills talked about his experiences in dangerous environments, including seven years in Iraq, with CNN’s Kasey Hunt on March 20, 2024.

“I was blown up twice by roadside bombs in ’06 in Baghdad,” Mills said. “… I don’t think safety and security is my No. 1 priority at times. Either that or it’s my own ignorance to go into things like this.”

In an interview with C-SPAN on Jan. 3, 2023, the day he took office, Mills steered a question about his military service into his tenure as a military contractor.

“Between my military and government service, I’ve got over seven years in Iraq. I’ve got almost three years in Afghanistan,” he said. “Kosovo, Pakistan. I’ve been to Somalia and the Puntland areas as well. Even in Ukraine. … Was blown up by roadside bombs in 2006 and am honored to be a Bronze Star recipient.”

He was asked about the impact of the explosions.

“It takes you back for a moment,” Mills said. “But it was really about the muscle memory, you react without having to think at that stage, and that’s a credit to the tremendous training and preparation that our United States Armed Forces get to experience.”

What does ‘blown up’ mean to contractors in war zones?

Sovitsky, who said he was Mills’ DynCorp team leader, addressed in a phone call with The News-Journal how he understands Mills’ “blown up” claims.

“I understand there may be a question as to what ‘blown up’ means to the military contractors that served in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Sovitsky wrote. “It refers (in contractor speak) to being in a motorcade struck by improvised explosive devices. It does not necessarily mean that you are physically ‘blown up’ or even seriously wounded.”

Sovitsky said proximity to such an explosion is damaging.

“To experience the blast from an IED targeting a motorcade, all members are subjected to overpressure (the shock wave) from the explosion,” he wrote, “and can suffer long-lasting physical and mental injuries.”

Kempkens said he wouldn’t have minded Mills saying his team had been blown up or hit twice.

“What (Mills) did say is: ‘I got blown up twice.’ He really didn’t. It’s not a truthful statement because he was not in either vehicle (that was struck),” Kempkins said.

Nash, who works in adult protective services in the Southwest, said he might be willing to give Mills some contextual leeway, depending on how he described his role in the April 19, 2006, bombing.

“I guess it’s fairly common to say, ‘We got hit.’ You know, ‘We got blown up,’ even though you may not be in the actual vehicle that got blown up,” Nash said. “… Now if he’s claiming he was wounded or something like that, I know for a fact that he was not wounded. We were joined at the hip during most of that incident.”

Mace contends Mills wasn’t “blown up,” and attacked his posting of Sovitsky’s letter.

“This post doesn’t say or prove anything. This is what he does. Blows hot air hoping no one will notice. And you’re not allowed to question his many lies,” Mace posted on X. “Cory Mills vomits as much complicated-sounding, non-grammatical jargon he can get out that doesn’t make any sort of sense, and shuts people down by trying to confuse them with a tidal wave of idiocy.”

Democrats label Mills ‘George Santos 2.0’

Mills’ “blown up” claims have drawn fire from political opponents, including Democrats, who are attempting to compare him to a former Republican congressman whose biographical claims were proven false. George Santos of New York was expelled from Congress in 2023 before pleading guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in 2024.

“Cory Mills’ lies are endless, and these damning reports accusing him of stolen valor are particularly disgusting,” said Madison Andrus, spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “It’s clear that Mills has lied repeatedly about his military service and time as a military contractor as more people come forward with the truth.”

Three Democrats running against Mills have called for his resignation.

Mills, who won reelection by defeating Michael Johnson, a Seminole County Republican who also made stolen valor allegations in the August 2024 primary, has leaned on Republicans and MAGA supporters to maintain support as he faces his critics.

In a speech to hundreds in attendance at the Volusia County Republicans’ Lincoln Dinner on July 21, 2024, in Daytona Beach, Mills appeared to address the stolen valor claims.

“I wouldn’t be standing here today if it wasn’t for so many in this room who have stood beside me, who have stood behind me against the slander, the defamation, the attacks,” Mills said, “but you do that because you know I’ll never back down and I’ll never stop.”

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Some who worked with Cory Mills in Iraq dispute his ‘blown up’ claims