# 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:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/41 "2011-06-24T17:13:32Z")
I don’t know what to make of **RADTENN**. He doesn’t seem to know how to communicate well, and he doesn’t seem interested in learning, and he isn’t very interested in being nice to people who were (at first, anyway) trying to help him. I have a feeling we won’t see him around any longer, so it’s probably moot whether he can adapt enough to play nicely here. ---
**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, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/42 "2011-06-24T17:25:29Z")
Some people just want to have the opinions and biases they hold reinforced, they don’t want them challenged. Note this in wiki for “echo chamber”: > [@](#): > > Regarding this condition arising in online communities, participants may find their own opinions constantly echoed back to them, and in doing so reinforce a certain sense of truth that resonates with individual belief systems. If I recall, his first thread was more or less about a land lord doing him wrong. When folks were pointing out things that might have challenged that premise, he got more and more hostile. I remember him stating that there were “facts” that he left unsaid, and would continue to leave unsaid, and so the counter arguments were bullshit. Maybe he just wanted to find folks that would help reinforce his sense of self righteousness. Since I am not a mind reader, this is all more or less speculation on my part. ---
**Author:** ![Lucretia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@Lucretia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucretia)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/43 "2011-06-25T00:32:15Z")
I’m an Air Force operating room nurse. Currently active duty, and I’ve been deployed to Afghanistan. With just a tiny bit of spin, I could claim most of what RADTENN claims. I have a bonafide or two, but on the whole, the last person you’d want in a foxhole beside you was me. Or, for that matter, putting up a tent (ow, my _fingers_), or for that matter, digging latrines (do they dig those!? Got me…) I think maybe he was in the military. I think maybe he exaggerates. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/44 "2011-06-25T02:22:58Z")
> [@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. Well, there’s [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW7lfALuNIs). Just sayin. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/45 "2011-06-25T02:57:56Z")
A toothpick shot my pa… ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/46 "2011-06-25T11:39:32Z")
> [@Oliveritaly](#): > > I think Martin Hyde has basically hit it on the head. Which doesnt say much for RADTENN’s sentry skills. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/47 "2011-06-25T20:18:57Z")
Don’t make fun of the mentally unstable people. Especially when they have _ **advanced military training** _ !! ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/48 "2011-06-25T20:44:01Z")
I wouldn’t make fun of the mentally _anything_ with advanced military training. ---
**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 25, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/49 "2011-06-25T20:56:04Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Don’t make fun of the mentally unstable people. Especially when they have _ **advanced military training** _ !! What the hell is that supposed to be? Marching while twirling a baton? ---
**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 25, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/50 "2011-06-25T20:59:35Z")
> [@yoyodyne](#): > > Well, there’s [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW7lfALuNIs). Just sayin. Yowza! That’s a high rate of fire, compared to the .50 cal. I don’t know how the rounds compare. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/51 "2011-06-26T00:31:51Z")
I wonder if \*\*FORMERAGENT \*\*is monitoring this thread. (Someone tell me I’m not the only one who remembers him or thinks of him at times like these) ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/52 "2011-06-26T02:20:24Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Yowza! That’s a high rate of fire, compared to the .50 cal. I don’t know how the rounds compare. It’s the same .50 BMG used in the M2. ---
**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 26, 2011, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658/53 "2011-06-26T04:44:36Z")
> [@yoyodyne](#): > > It’s the same .50 BMG used in the M2. Dayyy-ummm. That’s a lot of firepower going downrange. A .50 cal round will flat ruin your fucking day. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-veterans-is-this-guy-for-real-or-a-poser/586658.md?page=2)