A little less than a month ago, we did a post on Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat running for a seat in the Senate, who got into a bit of a mess when The New York Times noted discrepancies between what the Vietnam War feats he said he accomplished during speaking engagements – and the reality described in military records.

Now yet another Senate hopeful, this time from the state of Illinois, finds himself in the same predicament. According to an article on the Los Angeles Times, Mark Kirk, Republican Senate candidate for Illinois, apologized for what was termed as “inaccurate statements” regarding military service on Thursday.

Kirk appeared before the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune and did not directly answer questions as to whether the “misstatements” regarding his 21-year record as a Navy Reserve intelligence officer was an attempt to embellish his military record as he bids for the seat that used to be held by President Barack Obama. He is running against Democrat Alexi Giannoulias.

Kirk reportedly told the Tribune: “I am sorry, absolutely. You should speak with utter precision. You should stand on the documented military record. In public discourse, for high office, you should make sure that there is a degree of complete rigorous precession.”

The inaccuracies in Kirk’s military record include the fact that he did not win the Navy Intelligence Officer of the Year award and that he did not participate in the Gulf War. Neither did he actually serve in Operation Iraqi Freedom as his duties confined him entirely to U.S. soil. Statements from Kirk himself and from his congressional district office have, at one point or another, stated otherwise.