Help. I think someone is possibly faking service

[ABikerSailor]

I'm on an online chat app, and I have a friend who says he serves in the Air force in Qatar as a communications specialist.

He says that he is often in the field fighting isis in some form or another, and that a while back his convoy was attacked by ied and he lost a fellow service member and friend. Only thing, he posted a pic saying his friend took it, of a bloody Gore spattered Humvee with gatorade bottle lying everywhere.

I thought it was odd so I Googled, and voila, picture from 2006., He'd have had to have been serving at 16. So my questions:

Was said attack possible given his position? And do Airmen see combat like he says? I am Technically his friend, but I don't buy the story. Also, he says they won't release when or where it happened. How common is that. I believe he serves.. but i think he is pandering for sympathy in the worst possible way.
Thank you for any help and replies.

Was said attack possible? Not if he was 16, you can't go to boot camp until you are 18, and generally training a new troop takes anywhere from 6 months to 2 years, depending on the job.

As far as could an Air Force person possibly be on the ground? Maybe, if he was with a PJ unit. Those are the Air Force personnel who go in and rescue wounded, but generally they are flown in on helos. Dunno if a PJ unit is willing to drive on the ground, or if they even do.

In extremely rare cases, you can have one service embedded with another service, but that almost never happens.

I'd need more information about his rank, and would like to hear the person talk. Military speak is a bit different than your normal civilian speak.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

It's called Stolen Valor....you're being conned....unless you are conning us.

Like trump's purple heart for meritorious service with a bone spur.

Stolen from a real hero.

 

[Daryl Hunt]

I'm on an online chat app, and I have a friend who says he serves in the Air force in Qatar as a communications specialist.

He says that he is often in the field fighting isis in some form or another, and that a while back his convoy was attacked by ied and he lost a fellow service member and friend. Only thing, he posted a pic saying his friend took it, of a bloody Gore spattered Humvee with gatorade bottle lying everywhere.

I thought it was odd so I Googled, and voila, picture from 2006., He'd have had to have been serving at 16. So my questions:

Was said attack possible given his position? And do Airmen see combat like he says? I am Technically his friend, but I don't buy the story. Also, he says they won't release when or where it happened. How common is that. I believe he serves.. but i think he is pandering for sympathy in the worst possible way.
Thank you for any help and replies.

Was said attack possible? Not if he was 16, you can't go to boot camp until you are 18, and generally training a new troop takes anywhere from 6 months to 2 years, depending on the job.

As far as could an Air Force person possibly be on the ground? Maybe, if he was with a PJ unit. Those are the Air Force personnel who go in and rescue wounded, but generally they are flown in on helos. Dunno if a PJ unit is willing to drive on the ground, or if they even do.

I don't know one way or another. He might be the real deal or he might not be. There is no way for us out here in Internet Land to know.



In extremely rare cases, you can have one service embedded with another service, but that almost never happens.

I'd need more information about his rank, and would like to hear the person talk. Military speak is a bit different than your normal civilian speak.

You've given some misinformation.

A person can join the Military at age 17 with a parents permission. Let's just say that the Army has lowered it's standard to accept non high schoolers or the 17 year old graduated early. He or She can join with parental permission.

A PJ gets there how ever he needs to. He can be any rank including the lowest rank. He is usually bumped a rank so you won't normally see any with less than E-3 when they finish training. They are jump trained, scuba trained, static line trained and can walk in if need be. If they can get there using a Humvee thats what they will use. They just have to get there. Normally, they are going in on choppers but not always.

Special Operations, you may have all the services represented. Spec Ops is out of Macdill AFB and under it's own command. I watched a Afghanistan PBS documentary about the Army Special Operations operating there. Funny, all wore the same Uniforms but one had USAF on his chest. The USAF was a combat controller but they didn't mention that. He was armed and equipped just like the others except for the radio.

 

[ThunderKiss1965]

I'm on an online chat app, and I have a friend who says he serves in the Air force in Qatar as a communications specialist.

He says that he is often in the field fighting isis in some form or another, and that a while back his convoy was attacked by ied and he lost a fellow service member and friend. Only thing, he posted a pic saying his friend took it, of a bloody Gore spattered Humvee with gatorade bottle lying everywhere.

I thought it was odd so I Googled, and voila, picture from 2006., He'd have had to have been serving at 16. So my questions:

Was said attack possible given his position? And do Airmen see combat like he says? I am Technically his friend, but I don't buy the story. Also, he says they won't release when or where it happened. How common is that. I believe he serves.. but i think he is pandering for sympathy in the worst possible way.
Thank you for any help and replies.

Was said attack possible? Not if he was 16, you can't go to boot camp until you are 18, and generally training a new troop takes anywhere from 6 months to 2 years, depending on the job.

As far as could an Air Force person possibly be on the ground? Maybe, if he was with a PJ unit. Those are the Air Force personnel who go in and rescue wounded, but generally they are flown in on helos. Dunno if a PJ unit is willing to drive on the ground, or if they even do.

In extremely rare cases, you can have one service embedded with another service, but that almost never happens.

I'd need more information about his rank, and would like to hear the person talk. Military speak is a bit different than your normal civilian speak.

The Army will take you at 17 with parental permisson.

 

[ThunderKiss1965]

I'm on an online chat app, and I have a friend who says he serves in the Air force in Qatar as a communications specialist.

He says that he is often in the field fighting isis in some form or another, and that a while back his convoy was attacked by ied and he lost a fellow service member and friend. Only thing, he posted a pic saying his friend took it, of a bloody Gore spattered Humvee with gatorade bottle lying everywhere.

I thought it was odd so I Googled, and voila, picture from 2006., He'd have had to have been serving at 16. So my questions:

Was said attack possible given his position? And do Airmen see combat like he says? I am Technically his friend, but I don't buy the story. Also, he says they won't release when or where it happened. How common is that. I believe he serves.. but i think he is pandering for sympathy in the worst possible way.
Thank you for any help and replies.

These sort of things sometimes end with the supossed military personel asking for money so they can go on emergency leave. Don't fall for that garbage. If this person does asks for funds the only thing you can really do is go to your local police and report a case of fraud. There are groups that investigate sttolen valor but legally they can't do anything but call them out on their websites.

 

[regent]

When I first joined I put a post in the Vet's section and was immediately called a fake.

 

[Daryl Hunt]

When I first joined I put a post in the Vet's section and was immediately called a fake.

There are those that will do that for other reasons. Like they think they are in charge or they, themselves are fakes. In another area on the Internet, I had a similar situation. But it had to do with control. I stepped into a very bad situation between two retired military persons that were at war with each other. I asked it to be stopped. They both went after me with a vengence making claims I was a fake. Their buddies joined in. I made a statement that I would be around "Forever and Forever was, well.....Forever". I am still there and all of them are gone. They made the really bad mistake of trying to take it outside of the Internet by posting my personal information for God and everyone to see it. Bad mistake. I went to WAR on them. By the time I was done, not a single part of their lives weren't public all over the internet. You see, I used to be the owner of a nation wide Internet Provider Corporation. I even went as far as to hire a few people local to their locals to look into their lives. NEVER make it personal. They said I didn't play fair. I wasn't playing. They wanted WAR, they took the first shots and then bitched when I shot back. Okay, I used bigger guns. But when you declare war don't expect for your enemy to just roll over.

If you aren't a fake, don't sweat the small stuff. Just don't make it personal in your response. And keep in on the Internet.

 

[ABikerSailor]

When I first joined I put a post in the Vet's section and was immediately called a fake.

There are those that will do that for other reasons. Like they think they are in charge or they, themselves are fakes. In another area on the Internet, I had a similar situation. But it had to do with control. I stepped into a very bad situation between two retired military persons that were at war with each other. I asked it to be stopped. They both went after me with a vengence making claims I was a fake. Their buddies joined in. I made a statement that I would be around "Forever and Forever was, well.....Forever". I am still there and all of them are gone. They made the really bad mistake of trying to take it outside of the Internet by posting my personal information for God and everyone to see it. Bad mistake. I went to WAR on them. By the time I was done, not a single part of their lives weren't public all over the internet. You see, I used to be the owner of a nation wide Internet Provider Corporation. I even went as far as to hire a few people local to their locals to look into their lives. NEVER make it personal. They said I didn't play fair. I wasn't playing. They wanted WAR, they took the first shots and then bitched when I shot back. Okay, I used bigger guns. But when you declare war don't expect for your enemy to just roll over.

If you aren't a fake, don't sweat the small stuff. Just don't make it personal in your response. And keep in on the Internet.

You know, when people denigrate my service, or call me "fake", it doesn't really matter much to me. Why? Because on the 1st of every month, Uncle Sam takes a dump in my bank account, not enough to be rich, but enough to live on. And, every time I open my wallet, I see that little blue ID card that identifies me as PO1, retired. If I get sick? I go to the VA.

Bottom line is, that a person on a message board is not much more than a bunch of phosphor dots on a computer screen expressing an opinion. It has no effect on my retirement, or the experiences and things I brought home from overseas with me.

 

[Daryl Hunt]

When I first joined I put a post in the Vet's section and was immediately called a fake.

There are those that will do that for other reasons. Like they think they are in charge or they, themselves are fakes. In another area on the Internet, I had a similar situation. But it had to do with control. I stepped into a very bad situation between two retired military persons that were at war with each other. I asked it to be stopped. They both went after me with a vengence making claims I was a fake. Their buddies joined in. I made a statement that I would be around "Forever and Forever was, well.....Forever". I am still there and all of them are gone. They made the really bad mistake of trying to take it outside of the Internet by posting my personal information for God and everyone to see it. Bad mistake. I went to WAR on them. By the time I was done, not a single part of their lives weren't public all over the internet. You see, I used to be the owner of a nation wide Internet Provider Corporation. I even went as far as to hire a few people local to their locals to look into their lives. NEVER make it personal. They said I didn't play fair. I wasn't playing. They wanted WAR, they took the first shots and then bitched when I shot back. Okay, I used bigger guns. But when you declare war don't expect for your enemy to just roll over.

If you aren't a fake, don't sweat the small stuff. Just don't make it personal in your response. And keep in on the Internet.

You know, when people denigrate my service, or call me "fake", it doesn't really matter much to me. Why? Because on the 1st of every month, Uncle Sam takes a dump in my bank account, not enough to be rich, but enough to live on. And, every time I open my wallet, I see that little blue ID card that identifies me as PO1, retired. If I get sick? I go to the VA.

Bottom line is, that a person on a message board is not much more than a bunch of phosphor dots on a computer screen expressing an opinion. It has no effect on my retirement, or the experiences and things I brought home from overseas with me.

Usually you are correct. But when you get a click of about 10 or 15 going at it enough is enough. And when they start posting personal information, it's on. The good news is there wasn't a single AF, Navy or Marine in the bunch. Guess we have too many manners at birth. It all began when I found a real live Fake who claimed to be a Lt Col Green Beret who in 1979 brought down a Hind 24 with a 7.65 sniper rifle in Afghanistan. Wrong place, wrong weapon. Then he claimed to have 5 purple hearts with no other awards. The last time I checked, you get 3 purple hearts for real and it's almost an automatic at least Bronze. Plus, if it's like in the Navy or the AF, it's 3 purples, a Bronze or a Silver and a desk job. Case in point, that nutjob Kerry. Or just about any Nickel Pilot that survive the War without special accommodations up north. I imagine there were a few A-4 and A-6 drivers that fit that bill as well. I called him on the choice of weapon. There is no way in hell he could down a Hind with a 7.65 rifle. It's hardened against anything short of a 20mm or a 23mm. So I handed him a little story about he probably hit it in the oil cooler. He bit. He claimed that was exactly where he was aiming. Bad news for him, hit a Hind there and he still has about 45 minutes flight time and you just committed suicide. I didn't even ding him for being somewhere he shouldn't have been in a time he shouldn't have been. This guy had a bunch of 1st term actives and a bunch of Guards following him around like a puppy dog. Then it overflowed into a retired area which I was involved in and got real ugly there. We destroyed the place. I warned them that they were playing scorched earth and I was more than willing to play by their rules. So we burn the place to the ground. Not something I a overly proud of.

I never want to see an area be destroyed like that again. I would much rather give the benefit of the doubt and just roll my eyes a bit.

And there I was, I had the VC to the right of me. I had the NVA to the left of me. I had the Chinese to the rear of me. I had the Russians to the front of me. Do you know what happened then?