I have a brother in law who bounced around many jobs before finding a job as a police officer. Before that, we all knew he had enlisted in the army and was discharged - I can’t remember if the reason was a bad knee or asthma, but it was something like that. After he took a job as a police office, his army story changed. He was not discharged, but instead was culled from the rest of the recruits for a job as a UN Peacekeeper (one of the blue helmets, I guess) and spent some time in Somalia. Because he accepted this UN position, he had to forfeit his usual army stuff like the G.I. Bill, medical assistance from the V.A., etc. He has kept this from his family and his wife’s family, so AFAIK only he and his wife know. I know because my sister in law told my wife.
To me, this story reeks. The scenario I imagine is this: he was discharged for knees/asthma as in the original story, he takes a job as a police officer where many officers are probably former veterans, he concocts this new story to put on a good face among his police officer peers, and tries it out on my sister in law first for believability or to see if it sticks/work out the kinks in the story before he tries it on his peers or to “let her in on it” in case one of his officer buddies brings it up in her company.
Is there a way to confirm someone’s armed services records? If he was a part of the UN forces, would there be a way to verify that? How does one become a member of the UN forces (I doubt they are culled from a bunch of schmoes in basic training, but I don’t know that)? I find it fascinating that someone would take this route.
No enlisted soldier (or officer) is individually selected to be an UN Peacekeeper. You would be deployed along with your unit. Much like the MFO (Multinational Force and Observers) where the US has an infantry and support battalions deployed in the Sinai. Though, with the MFO you wear an orange beret.
As Xgemina says, UN peacekeepers are just ordinary military units assigned to peacekeeping duties by various countries at the request of the UN, and operating according to a UN resolution.
They are still soldiers of their respective countries and are entitled to whatever pay and benefits any other soldiers get.
That’s just odd. Is it possible he was trying to hide being dishonorably discharged? If I understand correctly, dishonorably discharged people won’t get the GI Bill assistance with education, but they may still be eligible for VA medical care.
A lot of military records are public records. As stated above the UN story is bullshit. If you feel he is lying and especially if he is getting monetary gain from it try the following link. This page investigates stolen valor claims. http://guardianofvalor.com/
It might be fun to challenge his story to see how far he will spin out the lies. Let’s see – there will be a “secret” actual UN Army. Or maybe the UN Army will turn out to be his cover story for being in a CIA covert ops team!
I only suggest you do this when he is not wearing his gun.
Plus, has the US ever contributed peace-keeping troops to the UN? I thought the US has not, because it usually has some sort of involvement in disputes around the world (that super-power thing), and so is not considered distant enough to contribute to a peace-keeper force.
I’m having a hard time finding the statistics in an easily accessible format, but if you look through the documents here you’ll find that the US has contributed significant amounts of troops to UN peacekeeping missions.
We all knew of his discharge, so it’s not to impress us. We think it might be to impress his cop friends, but I have no way of knowing if he has tried it in them. Surely they would see through it.
It’s the same here in Canada. I know two guys who have served as UN peacekeepers; in each case, their Canadian Forces unit was assigned, and as members of the unit, my friends went. At all times, they were Canadian Forces (CF) soldiers, with CF pay, benefits, pension, and so on. They never belonged to a “UN Army.”
UN Peacekeepers are drawn from member countries standing armed forces. While on occasion individuals may be brought in to serve, usually the forces are composed of units and formations from member countries.
So if the US has a commitment to send an infantry battalion to say the Congo, they will send an infantry battalion from the US military. These are usually given a designation by the UN as" US Battalion". Lets say1/87 Infantry Battalion gets sent, it serves as “US Battalion” Congo. Say after a year, it is recalled and 3/5 Marines is sent in its stead. It will now assume the duties and designation of “US Battalion”.
The point is that you become a UN Peacekeeper if you are assigned to a unit or formation which is sent on such duties. Not otherwise, except in rare cases, almost always involving specialists of some kind.