# Real veterans: Is this guy for real, or a poser? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 24, 2011, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658 "2011-06-24T02:35:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/21 "2011-06-24T04:15:02Z")
What??!!?? They didn’t tell you that was supposed to be a drill? PLEASE tell me you left one intact. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/22 "2011-06-24T04:15:21Z")
Oh, there was that time when I got to play OPFOR, setting ambushes and whatnot. That was hilarious, including sparking and tossing a t-flash I’d hidden in my sleeve, plus the whole “you stole my goat!” bit. > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > What??!!?? They didn’t tell you that was supposed to be a drill? > > PLEASE tell me you left one intact. Nope, it was all crunch, snap, drill, snip, toss… If I hadn’t been getting spec pay and working with good guys, it would have driven me nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Kyrie\_Eleison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kyrie_eleison/32/7682_2.png) [@Kyrie\_Eleison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyrie_Eleison)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/23 "2011-06-24T04:28:22Z")
> [@Dripping](#): > > Just to clarify: I did not **pit** RADTENN. The mods moved it here. I was just asking opinion, which is why I posted it in IMHO. Not questioning the mods at all, just pointing out this fact. My mistake; I overlooked that the thread had been moved, and thank you for pointing that out. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/24 "2011-06-24T04:46:44Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I’ve been a Canadian reservist for going on 22 years and the extent of my weapons training is annual range days with the C7, intermittent grenade-tossing (and arty-sims, thunderflashes and whatnot) and very rarely getting to fire a C9 and C6. I’ve never launched a grenade. We don’t get a lot of exotic weapons training in signals. Well, by a perfectly reasonable definition, you’re an expert in four small arms, almost matching RADTENN. You have to qualify with the C7, right? Congrats, you’re a freaking sharpshooter. Granted, my unit was a little privileged. But you could just as easily take signals training and spin it into something that sounds really awesome like “Expert in using covert communications devices” (any VHF radio hooked up to some crypto gear) or “field setup of communications devices that can pass messages to allied forces around the world” (setting up an HF radio.) Get sent to 2 squadron to learn EW basics and DF one summer; now you’re “Expert in covert electronic surveillance and triangulating enemy positions.” Have you been trained in hiding radio trucks with cam nets? Of course you have. Congratulations; you’re an expert at concealing vehicles from aerial surveillance! You’ve taken some winter warfare courses. You’re now an expert in extreme climate survival. See how easy it is? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/25 "2011-06-24T08:57:00Z")
Well, I can operate an autonomous 13000-lb logistical support system. It’s called a truck. ---
**Author:** ![markm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@markm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markm)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/26 "2011-06-24T13:55:17Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] There’s no such thing as an ‘M-50 machine gun’ so that raises a red flag. [/quote] Never seen a Reising? Sure, it’d make the RADTENN ancient to have been qualified with one, but they do exist. ---
**Author:** ![jonesj2205](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecc23a/32.png) [@jonesj2205](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonesj2205)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/27 "2011-06-24T14:10:44Z")
Dripping, The claim was made over a week ago, RADTENN hasn’t been around since the thread got locked and within both threads displayed more than a few issues, what are you hoping to get out of this? Can’t see any point except to exercise your foot against a dead horse. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/28 "2011-06-24T14:39:08Z")
My favorite on that list is 11. etc,… That’s only for Black OPS! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/29 "2011-06-24T14:45:06Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > If you allow for a certain degree of inflating the basics, it’s not at all unreasonable…\*\* but most of the things he describes are the most fundamental of military training.\*\* There’s nothig Rambo-esque about it. To break it down he claims: > > 1. “Expertise” with a number of weapons, including a number of automatic weapons, grenades, and rocket launchers. (The M-50 certainly does exist, by the way, though it’s a WW2-era weapon.) \. I’m pretty sure the M50 was a submachine gun. Many people mistakenly refer to the .50 cal machine gun as an “M50”, confusing it with the lighter caliber M60. This was sometimes the case even among my military colleagues who knew better. ---
**Author:** ![Oliveritaly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oliveritaly/32/15233_2.png) [@Oliveritaly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oliveritaly)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/30 "2011-06-24T14:47:25Z")
20 year retired (recent) U.S. Army here … I’d venture to say he was in the military but not much more. I think Martin Hyde has basically hit it on the head. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/31 "2011-06-24T14:49:02Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > Piffle. They gave you kids toothpicks? When I was Irish Stomp-Dancing Tojo back in WWII, I’d have killed for a toothpick. I did kill for a toothpick. I could tell you why, but then I’d have to…eh… you know. With a toothpick. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/32 "2011-06-24T14:55:49Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I did kill for a toothpick. > > I could tell you why, but then I’d have to…eh… you know. > > With a toothpick. “An expert in guerrilla warfare, with a man who’s the best, with guns, with knives, with his bare hands. A man who’s been trained to ignore pain, ignore weather, to live off the land, to eat things that would make a billy goat puke. To kill! Win by attrition. Period!” ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/33 "2011-06-24T15:00:20Z")
> [@Kyrie\_Eleison](#): > > I just read both of those threads regarding **RADTENN** ’s problem. Do you really want to ground your pitting in the implication that a normal vet would not act so? Because, to me, he doesn’t seem quite normal, veteran or not, and that’s something his posts established long before the posts you question began. Even if his story is somewhat muddled, he seems sincere to me. Excellent post (apart from the pitting). Now about the bawdy lyrics Rickjay? ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/34 "2011-06-24T15:10:07Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I’m pretty sure the M50 was a submachine gun. Many people mistakenly refer to the .50 cal machine gun as an “M50”, confusing it with the lighter caliber M60. This was sometimes the case even among my military colleagues who knew better. The Reising M50 is a submachine gun, and it has a fire mode selector for semi-auto or fully-auto. It can be seen in the 7th photo on [this page.](http://www.autoweapons.com/photos11/feb/3162reising.html) The one in [this video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-7hvWgRSYM) is clearly set to fully-auto fire mode. The M60 is a semi-automatic only version of the M50. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/35 "2011-06-24T15:11:21Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I did kill for a toothpick. > > I could tell you why, but then I’d have to…eh… you know. > > With a toothpick. I almost killed myself by swallowing a toothpick once. ---
**Author:** ![srzss05](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@srzss05](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/srzss05)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/36 "2011-06-24T15:47:40Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > The M60 is a semi-automatic only version of the M50. Maybe that was “the” M60 back in WW2, but when someone talks about “a” M60 nowadays, they almost always mean a 7.62mm fully automatic machine gun. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/37 "2011-06-24T15:59:34Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > The Reising M50 is a submachine gun, and it has a fire mode selector for semi-auto or fully-auto. It can be seen in the 7th photo on [this page.](http://www.autoweapons.com/photos11/feb/3162reising.html) > > The one in [this video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-7hvWgRSYM) is clearly set to fully-auto fire mode. > > The M60 is a semi-automatic only version of the M50. Your last statement is incorrect. The M60 is a 7.62mm, tripod- or bipod-mounted, air-cooled, fully automatic weapon, and is considered a medium gun. The .50 cal has similar descriptives, but is a heavy gun. The M60 can be fired hand-held with an assault pack, albeit not all that easily. The .50 cal is strictly a defensive weapon or is mounted on a vehicle. The M60 didn’t exist in WWII, and has largely been replaced in modern warfare. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/38 "2011-06-24T16:05:00Z")
> [@Dripping](#): > > Ok, this is pretty interesting. > > What about his quoting of wiki to “prove” that my Marine friend and I are “liars”? Why would a bonafide vet post such a thing? if someone already said this, I apologize for the repeat post I read that thread, this guy, total fake, troll, possible sock of previously banned troll? For a second there I thought I was reading something my 18yr old son wrote (specially the part about the military) it was only partly what he said, mostly the way he said it. Especially the military stuff, that had the resounding ring of total crap. …and then after vietnam when I was a tank commander in WWII…:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/39 "2011-06-24T16:05:23Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Your last statement is incorrect. The M60 is a 7.62mm, tripod- or bipod-mounted, air-cooled, fully automatic weapon, and is considered a medium gun. The .50 cal has similar descriptives, but is a heavy gun. The M60 can be fired hand-held with an assault pack, albeit not all that easily. The .50 cal is strictly a defensive weapon or is mounted on a vehicle. The M60 didn’t exist in WWII, and has largely been replaced in modern warfare. Point taken as well as from **srzss05**. I thought it was clear from the context I meant the Reising M60 since we were talking about the Reising M50. But there again, you probably thought it was clear to me from context that you were talking about the modern M60. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/40 "2011-06-24T16:48:22Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > Point taken as well as from **srzss05**. > > I thought it was clear from the context I meant the Reising M60 since we were talking about the Reising M50. But there again, you probably thought it was clear to me from context that you were talking about the modern M60. Ah, gotcha now. Cheers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658.md?page=3)