How to tell if someone was in the Special Forces

[Fir_na_tine]

@Martin Hyde

Mmm. At least since the Civil War people have made careers out of faking military service. At the same time, since long before that people who have legitimate service records have made careers out of telling their tales ;).

William Shakespeare referred to it quite a few years ago.
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.
St. Crispin’s Day

[Chronos]

Heck, in classical Roman times, the “miles gloriosos”, or “braggart soldier” was one of the stock character archetypes in comedies. I’m not sure, though, whether the archtypical braggart had actually done the things he bragged about.

[Bear_Nenno]

@sweeteviljesus

I have an acquaintence who claims to have been in the Special Forces. He was definitely in the Army, but he is such a Walter Mitty type, I have great difficulty believing he was in SF. He told me his MOS was 18Z and I know that he was in the service in the early to mid-eighties. Is there some way to know, like a coin or something? I was sitting with him one time when he told someone that the drum on a Thompson submachinegun held 450 rounds.

Just curious,
Rob

This is an easy one, and the answer is so obvious.

The Special Forces Branch and Career Managment Field (CMF) 18 did not exist until 1988. So if he served in the early to mid 80s, it is impossible for him to have been an 18Z. Period.

He is about 44. He told me he was E-6.

18Z is for E-8s and ABOVE.

He’s full of shit.

Want to ask him a couple questions? Try these:
What was your MOS before 18Z? (Should be 18 A,B,C,D or E) Ask him what that job title was.
Ask him what Scuba Road is.
Ask him WHAT ODA he was with. The answer should be a number. Let me know what he says.

[Bear_Nenno]

Also, if you mean that he was ONLY in the service from the early to mid 80s, then he is absolutely–without a doubt–full of shit. 18Zs need to have like 12-18 years in the service with A LOT of time on an ODA before they can be a Zulu.

[pretend_my_name_is_witty]

Another message board I frequent the British Army Rumour Service (arrse.co.uk) has threads about ‘walts’ every few months.

This one is brilliant.

Number one of the little known facts about the SAS is that all UK pubs are required by law to have one alcoholic regular who used to be a member of the SAS and was one of the first pair into the Iranian Embassy.

[FRDE]

@Szlater

Ask him what colour the boathouse is at Hereford.

This has been puzzling me for days

I’ve never seen a poole table that was not green.

• yet some come out of the blue.

I have not served, but known a few that have, they were certainly not Walter Mitty types. Thinking about it, none have even talked about their regiments, just incidents that make the jigsaw.

Would anyone know about ‘switching off’ ?

[DrDeth]

@Tripler

I don’t know who you’ve been talking to, but it’s my personal experience that a veteran, any veteran, will not talk about what they did, solely because they did so damn much. "

True, and yet not true. My Dad was a decorated Vet from WWII. He’d tell lots of stories, just not many about combat. He’d talk about the food, the mold, the bugs, and other things that could be a little funny or ironic- Basic training was the font of many stories. Only time he’d tell about real combat is if the story was a bit funny. For example, he was a Non-com, part of HQ. He’d run messages up to the front in a jeep, though the jungle- occupied by snipers. He said that was one use for the Tommy gun, when a sniper shot at the jeep, they’d dive faster and maybe zig-zag, while everyone not driving would empty a magazine into the jungle, hoping to spoil the snipers aim. He said it was kind of funny, tearing through the jungle on a crappy road, bouncing up and down so hard you’d have to hang on with one hand, while firing a tommy gun or grease gun with the other hand, praying for bad aim - on the part of the sniper.

So yeah- if he tells you tales about his sadistic DI, or the bad food, or the idiot junior officers, then believe them. Combat- not so much.

[Wakinyan]

@DrDeth

True, and yet not true. My Dad was a decorated Vet from WWII. He’d tell lots of stories, just not many about combat. He’d talk about the food, the mold, the bugs, and other things that could be a little funny or ironic-

This is exactly how I would describe my grandfather, also vet from WWII; at the finnish-soviet front from '39 to '44. I remember once when he was in a good mood, had had a cognac or two, and described the awful problems they had with lice; you just couldn’t get rid of them, they crawled out of the seams when the underware came back from the laundry, and so forth. One of his sons made a joke, everything in good humor: “They were worse than the russians?”

My grandfather’s smile disappeared, as suddenly a shadow came over his face, and he said: “No, they were not worse than the russians.”

Obviously, everybody talked about something else next.

He had nightmares all his life. My grandmother said: I married one man, and got another after the war. They slept in different rooms due to his nightmares from the forties until he passed away in the eighties.

[pulykamell]

@DrDeth

True, and yet not true. My Dad was a decorated Vet from WWII. He’d tell lots of stories, just not many about combat. He’d talk about the food, the mold, the bugs, and other things that could be a little funny or ironic- Basic training was the font of many stories. Only time he’d tell about real combat is if the story was a bit funny. For example, he was a Non-com, part of HQ. He’d run messages up to the front in a jeep, though the jungle- occupied by snipers. He said that was one use for the Tommy gun, when a sniper shot at the jeep, they’d dive faster and maybe zig-zag, while everyone not driving would empty a magazine into the jungle, hoping to spoil the snipers aim. He said it was kind of funny, tearing through the jungle on a crappy road, bouncing up and down so hard you’d have to hang on with one hand, while firing a tommy gun or grease gun with the other hand, praying for bad aim - on the part of the sniper.

So yeah- if he tells you tales about his sadistic DI, or the bad food, or the idiot junior officers, then believe them. Combat- not so much.

And my father, too. He fought in 'nam and, growing up, I remember him telling me anyone who brags about being in Vietnam and killing is full of shit. While I don’t believe this rule holds 100% for everyone, it is true of every veteran I have ever met. Only one time has my father told me about actual combat, a few years ago, and it completely threw me for a loop. Normally, it was just funny stories about basic training, getting high, and some Vietnamese girl he had the hots for.

[UncleRojelio]

@pretend my name is witty

This one is brilliant.

Why can’t we have the some of the smilies those guys have?

[sweeteviljesus]

Actually, the guy didn’t talk about combat so much. He told me about a few instances though. He also told me about the number of confirmed kills that he had. Does anybody really keep score?

Thanks,
Rob

[DrDeth]

@UncleRojelio

Why can’t we have the some of the smilies those guys have?

Oh, god yes. The “jerk off” emoticon alone would be worth it’s weight in gold here. Of course, we’d only be able to use in in the PIT, but still, it’d be great.

[Mr.Goob]

I did four uneventful years in the Navy. My neighbors Dad flew fighters in WWII. He likes me because I served. One night heavy into the scotch he told me some amazing stories. Damn if I don’t remember any of them the next day.

Damn that was good scotch and a hell of a hang over, the cunning old guy knew what he was doing.