Scott Cooper’s career as a “spy” coincides with the time he was a Signaller (equivalent to Private soldier) in the Royal Australian Corps of Signals. During his six years service he was never promoted and because of his bad behaviour was not allowed to re-enlist – in fact he was sacked. His commanding Officer sent a letter to Headquarters in Brisbane dated 9 July 1973.  We hold a copy of the letter but as it contains considerable personal information we will only publish relevant excerpts:

 

Para 1 of the letter

 

The above mentioned soldier was reengaged for a further three years on the 16 April 1973.Based on subordinate commanders reports I recommended the re-engagement on the 19 February 1973, three days after assuming command of x Signal Regiment, since that time a number of incidents have occurred to cause me reconsider the situation and I now believe the re-engagement should be vetoed.

 

Para 10.

 

After considerable consideration I am of the opinion that Sig Cooper is undisciplined, immature, irresponsible, disloyal and dishonest, and that the word picture of him painted in April 1969 (Annex B) is still fairly accurate.

 

Para 11.

 

I therefore recommend that Sig Cooper's re-engagement be vetoed under the terms of MBI 171-1.  Pending decision I have taken steps to stop payment of the members re-engagement bonus cheque.

 

The letter was signed XXXXXXX XXXXX  Lieutenant Colonel CO X Sig Regt.

 

Cooper must have been told of the request to sack him because on the 10 Jul 1973 one day after his Commanding Officers letter to Headquarters he wrote a request to be discharged.  As shown in the following document, Cooper’s complaint was that the Army was simply not performing to his standards and therefore he wanted to grab his ball and go home.

 

 

Cooper was a junior soldier who carried out the duties of a private soldier – no more no less. We are reliably advised that his postings included working in an intelligence environment, however a Private soldier does what he is told and does it when he is told. Scott Cooper greatly and dishonestly exaggerates his role in the Army with tales of intelligence mystique and skulduggery.

 

We will deal firstly with Cooper’s claims that he served in Vietnam, he is known to have made these claims from the mid Eighties through to the present time.  He started whilst living in Warrnambool, Victoria when he applied to join the local Vietnam Veterans Association. A Veteran from Warrnambool said:

 

“Scott tried to join the local Viet Veterans group around the time of the welcome home parade, we found out he had never served in Vietnam, he stated the old story about Security reasons for not being listed and papers being lost”

 

We are also reliably advised that Cooper attended an ANZAC Day parade wearing Vietnam medals, but left the parade at the request of genuine veterans.

 

We hold numerous Statutory Declarations regarding Cooper’s claims to have served in Vietnam

 

He enlisted into the Army on the 17^th April 1967 in Melbourne and was discharged (sacked) on 1^st August 1973. He was sacked because he was undisciplined, immature, irresponsible, dishonest and disloyal and couldn’t be trusted as a Private soldier in the Army let alone be trusted to be a 007 on Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

 

 

Ordinary servicemen and ordinary citizens know little of the intelligence fraternity or what individual roles are however we have been advised that a private soldier of Cooper’s ilk would have been employed as follows: 

Whilst in the job of Operator Signals (Op Sig) he was not employed on communications duties. As an Op Sig, he was employed on intelligence-related duties - although not in the field and not as an intelligence officer, analyst or other type of operative (or spy) which he claims. His duties in Australia and Singapore would have consisted of helping man a facility within a secure Australian base where they listened in to and recorded foreign signals traffic".

 

He served only in Australia and Singapore. His Singapore service was as a Private soldier in a communications facility; he was accompanied by his family and was in Singapore for one year and Two Hundred and Twelve Days. The inserts below show his arrival and departure from Singapore.

 

 

 

 

 

Cooper has written a novel, which is a work of speculative fiction. He intimates in his publicity blurb that he worked in the murky world of Spies. This is one of his statements 

 

“Former Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt was kidnapped and murdered- by our own people, according to a Sunshine Coast novelist and former spy. Cooper claims he had to write the novel as fiction, not only because of the Official Secrets Act but also because of threats made against his son, a former army officer.”

 

OK so Cooper is a writer and therefore allowed a bit of poetic licence. But let’s be clear he was a Private soldier in the Army Signal Corps who sat at console jotting down and sending messages of various kinds.  Below is information from a person with a similar background who knew Cooper well when they served together.

 

“I knew Scott Cooper quite well way back in the past and I know about his book. He was an Operator Signals in x Signal Regiment and his rank was Signalman.

I am also aware of his book “Ripple Effect” and although I haven’t read it I have read excepts and it appears to be entirely fiction. Scott was an operator who sat at a console and took down Morse code messages and that would be about the full extent of his job.

He was never a spy in the true sense of the word.  The Regiment’s work was classified Top Secret but we were not spies in the James Bond sense.

He did not serve in SVN.” 

 

Another ex Serviceman who served with Cooper and knew him well said

 

“In his bio in relation to the novel "Ripple Effect", he implies that while the novel is a work of fiction, it is based about his own experience as an "intelligence operative" and he had to present the novel as fiction to avoid prosecution under the Official Secrets Act.  To those who are familiar with his background, this is simply posturing and he is considered to be nothing more than a typical "wannabee".  He never rose above the rank of Signalman and his experience in the signals intelligence field was minimal to say the least”

 

Cooper like most authors conducted a book launch tour to various locations, another of his “old friends” told us:

 

“ Interesting though is a comment my contact passed to me concerning the comments from a friend's daughter ( who has no cause to make an incorrect statement) to the effect that she had attended a book launch by Scott during which she spoke to him and he claimed to have completed two tours of Vietnam although not with xxx Sig Tp. 

 

Cooper is a long term wannabe offender dating from the 1980s to the present time.

 

He spruiks of the intelligence world and Vietnam service as if he were part of it and once it is understood that he is telling stupid lies his whole book hypothesis falls into a heap. During his Army service and leading up to his sacking his Commanding Officer said of him in a memo to Canberra that he was a known  liar, that trait has obviously stuck with him over the years. See copy of the letter:

 

 

 Below are more lies from Cooper:

 

“Scott says he actually wrote it nine years ago, alleging a threat to his son’s military career stopped him in his tracks. “My son was going through Duntroon at the time. I had made the mistake of giving it to an ex-intelligence friend who had written books himself. When my son was going through his graduation ceremony two (high-ranking) military army people joined us and we were having a bit of a chat and one of them looked me right in the eye and said ‘Right, now do you have a book or does your son have an army career.’ Immediately I said ‘It’s buried’,” he claims”

 

It all boils down to the fact that Cooper never served in Vietnam and was never an intelligence operator he was a Private soldier Signals Operator in the Army who from time to time handled secret documents – He was not trusted in that roll and was sacked. All he has said about his book and his Vietnam service are fairy tales and not worth a pinch of goat's dung

 

Cooper has brought discredit to himself, to the Royal Australian Corps of Signals and has earned the ire of Vietnam Veterans. He is a posturing fool and a known liar. Poetic license is fine in works of fiction.  Cooper is living his lies to falsely enhance his reputation at the expense of the honour of genuine Vietnam Veterans.

 

Veterans will not tolerate wannabes, Cooper is a wannabe, and his acts of make believe and self aggrandisement have evoked Newton’s third law and he now has an equal and opposite (and truthful) account of his Military Service published for the entire world to judge him as a liar and a wannabe.

 

Finally we say to Scott Ronald Cooper, congratulations on writing a work of fiction but don’t ever again claim to have been a “Spy” and don’t ever again claim to have served in Vietnam.