I figure we could write up an acrticle eventually. First though, what exactly are Franco’s claims? We need to establish what exactly his claims are and which are suspect. Obviously he claims to be the shit, but we need some verifiable facts to check up him on. I’ll browse his site later. Also, who do we trust that has access to the warmachine material?
There are two ways one might verify Sammy’s college degree. The first is for a University of Maryland Graduate to call their alumni office, suck some serious ass after showing, they also are an alumni, and then ask if they could confirm their acquantance Sammy is a grad. The second way is to go to the University of Maryland Library and ask if they have a past collection of graduation programs. One would then have to read a series, say 1978 to 1988 to confirm or deny his claim. If U of M issues a alumni directory, it might be easlier to find someone who has a copy of it. Perhaps one is even in the U of M library.
I’ll handle the issue of his martial arts curriculum myself. I plan on finding out what he teaches, the intensity of it and how it stacks up to other martial arts curriculums first hand. Also the skill of his students.
A couple more things…
I have not been able to ANY reference to a “Who’s Who Directory of Law Enforcement Instructors” apart from Sammy’s references to it. None of the LEOs I’ve talked to have ever heard of it either. What else can I do to try and prove whether such a publication actually exists? Of course, even if it does exist, every “Who’s Who” I’ve ever seen is not much more than a scam istelf, where you pay to have yourself listed in it.
I’m also trying to find out about his status as a “Law Enforcement Master Instructor”. My instructor has never heard of such a title, BTW. And I also am trying to find out about all the weapon certs he claims, and what they mean. For example, a Captain at the PD I’ll be working for told me that 90% of their ASP curriculum is the legalities of where you can hit a suspect. The actual use of the ASP is pretty brief. Could be the same for Sammy, which would mean even if those certs are real, they say very little about his ability to fight.
Matt
On Dimitri’s sneshido forum, I found someone who claims to have worked with Franco, but now hates him. Here’s the email I sent yesterday…
Mr. Hall,
My name is Matt Wallis, and I am a martial artist
living in Orlando, FL. I am currently doing a bit of
research into Sammy Franco, and I came across the
following on the senshido forum…
“Hey guys. Yeah, I was moderating Sammy’s forum. I got
banned for questioning Sammy on something. I had
disagreed with Sammy on a number of things that he has
said/done, and I no longer have or want any
affiliation with CFA or Sammy. I’d rather not waste
forum space with something that doesn’t concern it,
but I will answer anything you want to know about
CFA/Sammy and why he does not deserve your
confidence/money. If you have any questions, feel free
to mail me at mets202@aol.com. Thanks.”
In fact, I am very curious to hear about your
experiences with Mr. Franco.
If you’d like to know about me, I am a member of the
bullshido.com website (I post under “Matt W.”). I
also co-authored this point/counterpoint article with
Phil Elmore:
http://www.themartialist.com/0404/pointcounterpoint.htm
I don’t currently post at his forum anymore due to a
problem I had with another poster there.
I’d love to hear anything you have to say about
Franco, good or bad.
Thanks,
Matt
Haven’t heard anything back yet.
Dear Mr. Browning,
Alpha Phi Sigma has a chapter at Univ. of Maryland, College Park & Eastern
Shore. The chapters were established in 1977 and 2001, respectively.
It is not the policy of Alpha Phi Sigma, to share member information.
Patricia Menzies
National Executive Secretary
Alpha Phi Sigma
Nova Southeastern Univ.
UPP-N-155
3600 Univ. Drive
Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. 33314
www.alphaphisigma.org
TappingReeve@aol.com writes:
> Hi:
>
> My name is Samuel Browning and I just graduated from the University of
> New Haven where in 1994, I was inducted into Alpha Phi Sigma-Alpha Tau
> Chapter. I’m writing because I wanted to check if you have any records of a Samuel
> “Sammy” Franco being a member of Alpha Phi Sigma chapter from the University
> of Maryland or any of its branches. Could you also please tell me when these
> chapters were started? Thank you for your anticipated cooperation in this
> matter.
>
> Sincerely yours,
>
> Samuel P. Browning
> 671 Scotland Rd
> Norwich, Ct 06360
Man, people are tight lipped. We aren’t asking for any personal info, just confirmation of a PUBLIC claim!
Ridiculous.
Yeh, and I’m a member of Alpha Phi Sigma. Sammy never claimed to be in APS which is a criminal justice honor society, but if he was that would indicate a GPA of 3.4 and that he was probably a lock for graduation.
What do you need me to do?
ALright here’s the absolutely stunning response I got from the border patrol that took about a week. Don’t forget, my question was, “Can anyone verify the claims made by this man…”
The response?
Not from this venue.
http://help.customs.gov/cgi-bin/customs.cfg/php/enduser/myq_upd.php?p_sid=kfBHfrgh&p_refno=040708-000027&p_created=1089294272
:rolleyes:
So I will call the number I got for the guy in charge of training next.
Matt
On a thread that is now in the Black Belt Club I previously wrote:
was surprised when I read the following “Contemporary Fighting Arts has been taught to the US Boarder Patrol, Rhodesian Army Commandos . . .” He also says that CFA was “conceived in 1983”. Problem, Rhodesia was renamed Zimbabwe on, or before April 17, 1980 when the black majority finally achieved political power through multi-racial elections. So how could Franco be teaching his system to serving RAC’s? maybe he could teach an ex-commando but he refers to them in the plural and there are not a lot of these guys in the United States to begin with. So if you do meet him you might want to casually mention how you want to visit Africa, especially South Africa and see if he tells you some tall tales.
I can’t find this claim of Franco’s site anymore. Am I missing it or has Franco wised up and removed it?
“My name is Samuel Browning and I’m a postaholic”
Seriously Matt and Osiris, just tell me what you want me to do. I’m drifting without direction on this particular investigation.
Hey, I just had a new baby!!! Yeeeeaaaaaa! Whoooo-hooooooo!
So I won’t be posting much over the next xouple days. But Sam, if you want, start trying to check on all his weapons certs in the quote I posted above.
Matt
Congradulations, 
Now you can say to someone “who’s you’re daddy.” I’ll start in the next couple of days.
Seriously Matt and Osiris, just tell me what you want me to do. I’m drifting without direction on this particular investigation.
Sorry. I don’t have the time right at this moment to put the proper time into this. Give me a couple weeks and I’ll be on it for real.
Things are starting to get into a groove with the new baby. So I should be able to start investigating again.
In the meantime, that Ryan Hall did email me back saying he has been busy, but is willing to tell me his story when he gets the time.
I got Ryan’s email. He told me a lot, but I am waiting for his permission to post the full email. If he doesn;t give it I’ll have to summarize. But in the meantime, Ryan claims he was not only a student, but in the inner circle and considered one of Franco’s “best guys.” He left when he went to a Straight Blast Gym and got owned! LOL. Happens to us all.
In the meantime I emailed him with more questions.
Matt
I also contacted the Border Patrol and finaly got put through to their Training Center. Explained what I was doing and got an email addy. Sent the following email…
Hello Ms. XXXX,
I’m the guy that called you investigating the claims
of Sammy Franco. I appreciate you taking the time to
look into this for me.
The claims made can be found here:
http://www.sammyfranco.com/meet.html
They are about midway down the page, but I’ll quote
them here too. “Sammy Franco’s experience and
credibility in the combat science field is exemplary.
In fact, he is a Law Enforcement Master Instructor who
designed, implemented and taught officer survival
training to the United States Border Patrol (USBP).”
Thank you for your help.
Sincerely,
Great work man. I should be able to aid you in a short while.
No problem. I’m bucking for that “Hall of Fame Member” status. 
BTW, Os, nobody ever listens to me around here. Can you get Ka-Bar let in?
Matt