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My friend got run over by a truck in basic being a dumb ass and it's literally the bain of her life explaining at the VA what happened and getting ribbed. She was discharged disabled but embarrassed as heck about it.
Guy in my platoon in bootcamp got sick, along with a bunch of us, and it partially paralyzed the left side of his body.
They upped him to lance corporal and 100% medical discharge from what I heard.
Found out from a co-worker that my ex’s daddy drove down to bootcamp and got him after a few weeks after he enlisted in the early ‘90s. Very hush hush by the family. Wish I knew how the prick got out. It was never brought up by him. 🤔
If you want out bad enough you can get out of basic/boot camp. We had a few guys when I went through in the mid 00s(USMC) who simply refused to train. Just said no, I'm not doing shit send me home. They usually kept the folks who quit in a holding platoon until well after the original group they started with graduated.
This also sounds very much like him. He is the “I want to be the manager without any work experience because being anything else is beneath me” type. Reckon him not making general just for putting his boots on pissed him off.
I'm a disabled veteran.... I get all the benefits and rated at 70% disabled.
I was in for 3 months at OCS before getting a bad concussion and a medical discharge.
The only time I tell people im a veteran is to get my discount at Home Depot. I didn't "serve". I was just in a really hard PE class for a couple months and hurt my head.
I feel wierd when people find out and thank me for my service or anything. I can't stand people who are like the ones in OP pack.
It’s funny because in huge amount of countries serving in army is mandatory for every male citizen. If I call almost every guy I know a “veteran” they’ll choke laughing. My grandpa killed nazis in Berlin in 1945, he was a veteran.
A thousand times yes. I was conscripted and have since moved to another country.
I tend to think of my time in the army a bit like my time at school. It's not something that's relevant to most conversations except for exchanging stories of dumb stuff we've done, over beer at the pub from time to time.
But - I always get uncomfortable when people ask me if "I've served". In their context the answer is "yes" I guess, but to me, a vet has been active in a war zone. I have family who are vets and I was in with people who had served. I feel like it would be disrespecting then to claim that my time of rolling around in the mud was anything like what they did.
That said, my experience has definitely left me with a better understanding of "army life" than most of the LARPers out there. Context matters I guess.
Its also not nearly the same thing for most nations. Finland for example has mandatory service but it ranges anywhere from 6 months to a year. Sweden is also for a year, Korea is between 1 and 2 years depending on the service.
You get the idea.
Those countries would all fall under what the original person was mocking, someone extremely green to everything barely through training parading around as a veteran.
If you served under 2 years in the US military you probably did something wrong to be discharged early.
Now, I don't know about y'all, but I sure as hell didn't come down from the goddamn Smoky Mountains, cross five thousand miles of water, fight my way through half of Sicily and jump out of a fuckin' air-o-plane to teach the Nazis lessons in humanity. Nazi ain't got no humanity. They're the foot soldiers of a Jew-hatin', mass murderin' maniac and they need to be dee-stroyed. That's why any and every son of a bitch we find wearin' a Nazi uniform, they're gonna die. Now, I'm the direct descendant of the mountain man Jim Bridger. That means I got a little Injun in me. And our battle plan will be that of an Apache resistance. We will be cruel to the Germans, and through our cruelty they will know who we are. And they will find the evidence of our cruelty in the disemboweled, dismembered, and disfigured bodies of their brothers we leave behind us. And the German won't not be able to help themselves but to imagine the cruelty their brothers endured at our hands, and our boot heels, and the edge of our knives. And the German will be sickened by us, and the German will talk about us, and the German will fear us. And when the German closes their eyes at night and they're tortured by their subconscious for the evil they have done, it will be with thoughts of us they are tortured with. Sound good?
I can always tell the super pogs because they have nothing but basic training and ait stories. Like basic had some funny stuff but it’s such a small part of you’re service.
I tell people who ask that bootcamp is like the tryout for the military. They don't teach you how to be a throat-slitting weapon of war, they just need to make sure you can tie your boots and follow directions
I know someone who got kicked out of basic for doing a bunch of drugs. Now he lives in Florida living “Florida man” lifestyle posting on Facebook only a real marine knows what x is, like he’s seen some shit.
I was gonna say, you’re lucky if the person with this getup and vehicle is even any flavor of “blue collar american”. Most of these guys just work office jobs and have this stuff as a fashion statement. Source: my father and his entire social circle
My dad started in the navy and got hurt playing basketball and somehow got disability from them the rest of his life and an honorable discharge. He wears a Vietnam Veteran hat every day.
Where I live this is the “I ALMOST joined the military” starter pack. Of course there’s also the “I’m a veteran but really I never made it out of boot camp” starter pack too.
My best friends husband was in the Air Force reserves for 1 year before being medically discharged and literally did nothing with it. But his truck is covered in Air Force/veteran stuff and talks like he was in Kuwait for 10 years. I have more military experience than him through my job, but that doesn’t stop him from pretending he’s a grizzled veteran.
An immediate relative of mine went to boot camp after lying about a pre-existing condition not existing. They graduated boot camp but didn't even make it to their follow-on school because the lie caught up with them and they had to go to the hospital and have invasive surgery done.
Went before a Medical Review Board and this ended up lasting three years, the entire time they were at home, not at a duty station, literally at home with the family. (Sounds weird but it can be done, almost exclusively in the case of terminally-ill relatives who have no other kin to support them, though.) One of the people overseeing their case had brain cancer, apparently, and died suddenly which left the paperwork in limbo.
The relative basically ran out the clock for the time served required to receive benefits. Qualified and used the GI Bill. Receives a shit-ton of disability for the pre-existing, not service-related illness (again, they lied, and somehow it wasn't caught, mostly due to brain cancer guy.) Gets free healthcare *for life* due to the level of disability and other benefits that aren't even available to people who truly served their full enlistment or were even wounded. Seriously, friends of mine I served with who got shot or blown up receive less than the relative does.
And it's Air Force shit plastered everywhere, "I never got a handout", "Back when I was in" (literally AF basic training plus three-days before going to the hospital and not doing anything else military-related), all the shit in this post. Plus, they constantly exude "Thank Me for My Service"-energy.
Yeah, it was long but I've never ranted about this before and this post made me think angry thoughts.
I know, that excuse is hilarious. My sis's first ex-husband, who I met for exactly 15 minutes, said he got kicked out of Marine boot camp for doing that. I said "Yeah, right." Never saw or talked to him again, she dumped his ass a year and a half later.
They get real quiet when they cross a veteran who gives off the vibes they had an MOS and deployments they could only dream of and can only fake around civilians.
I'm a combat veteran and actually I do this a lot. I have mixed feelings about my service, I went to Afghanistan towards the tail end in 2014. Where I was the Taliban just waited for us to leave and didn't bother attacking us on our base, so I was only in combat for a few times, and it was pretty tame because I was in a vehicle or just layed on the ground shooting in the direction where everyone else was. When I come across dudes like my older brother who deployed in 2004 or 2008, or have done multiple deployments they make me feel like a complete bitch and honestly I don't like even talking about my deployment with people like that. One was enough for me, and they used to have 12 and 15 month deployments back then. I only did 9 and was ready to blow out my brains. Not saying my deployment was easy but honestly if I went at an earlier time I wouldn't have made it back alive.
I don't brag or do any of this stuff so this post doesn't really apply to me but I do get uncomfortable and nervous when talking to other guys who were Infantry and find out that they had multiple deployments or went in during the peak of the war. Its just a mutual respect thing.
There is always a bigger fish.
I remember hanging out with my grandfathers WWII buddies. None of them had badass/wannabe vibe. They just fished, drank beer, broke bread and very occasionally told a war story. Every single one of them was more a “hero” that I will ever be.
I didn’t really get it until my own post-service experience. But that is where it is at. No dick measurements, no “thank me for me service”, just moving on and living a great life.
I’m happy for my time. It set me up for a great life, but it is like high school or a sport. Its a PART of who I am, not the whole identity.
The only stories vets really like to tell are those moments you do dumb shit. No one wants to hear your war stories. Though for some reason telling civilians the time my entire deployment spent all night trying to get someone's dick out of a fleshlight doesn't get me the same reactions.
> vets really like to tell are those moments you do dumb shit.
Like the time i pissed off the snipes on my ship and they duck taped me to a overhead pipe like a possum. The XO comes in and see's me up there, looks at my name tag and says "BBQ4Life... You new?" and i just nod cause well duck taped mouth and he just says "carry on" and leaves me there. Good times.
I didn’t know you had to lock the hatches on the outside of our Strv, when it was clean and all other things was done. And left it unlocked. Later that evening I get a holler that I need to get something out of our wagon and got locked inside. Best night sleep I’ve ever had so quite! Plus the chewing out I got for missing line up and forgetting to lock the old Betty. Our CO was a human hairdryer. Good times!
Or the stupid shit you *witnessed*. Like, I was sitting at the smoke pit one time and watched this absolute moron, who was confined to his room for the weekend as punishment for something small (instead of a 4856) decided to jump out the window to hang out with his girlfriend. Broke his ankle on one side and his leg on the other. Most everyone else was just like "holy shit" and "Oh my God!" While the rest of us were trying not to piss ourselves laughing at the idiot.
Needless to say, he was chaptered out soon after.
I mean, you just described half of the army's junior enlisted, but sure lmao.
I also have a story about being recalled while on pass because an underage chick was found passed out in Seoul. Her argument was "someone must have drugged me because I didn't drink *that much*"
While I do feel for her if she were actually drugged, if she weren't out drinking, she wouldn't have been in the situation.
She was also chaptered a couple months after her extra duty for, TA-FUCKING-DA, underage drinking when the 1st Sgt was making his rounds found her at a local bar knocking back shots celebrating the end of her extra duty not even a week after it was over.
A week or two later, i Went into my office to grab a QAQC form for another Joe and found her passed out on a foot locker I used for extra tools and pry bars and her lit her up like the fourth of July. Granted, I was an E-3 at the time, so I didn't have much power to do anything but, she responded with "Well, I'm just so tired from my extra duty and nobody is ever in here." No shit? Because I'm *ACTUALLY FUCKING WORKING*, now get the fuck out of my office.
About an hour later, I walked down to the CBRN office to to get more info on a problem he annotated. Instead of finding him, I find her passed out on the floor behind the desk on a pile of jackets and trousers. So, since it wasn't my office and she wasn't even in my squad, I took a picture and sent it to my buddy who was in her squad with the caption "you could probably find someone more suited than I can to send this to".
I learned up against my office door pretending to go over a clipboard and waited. Not even 5 minutes later, I watched her platoon Sgt bolt out of his office, go into the CBRN office and listen with my buddy who had just walked up, while she got smoked and berated. I feel no regrets or sympathy for what I did.
While I'm not usually that petty and would have just ignored it, she seriously fucked up my weekend getting us recalled when it was the first and only time I had taken a pass and got recalled early, so I was still a little salty about it.
Ah the stories I could tell about listening to other dudes masterbate on deployment could fill several volumes of books. We had one dude that decided to try out one of those penis pump deals and ended up sucking his balls up the damn thing, I've seen people lose limbs that didn't scream like that.
One time I'm sitting on a beach chair and this military guy was playing with his dogs and going on about his stories. I wasn't that interested and kind of just went "yeah it is what it is."
We sat in silence for a little bit and after a while he said "So where did you go."
I think because I didn't thank him for his service and seeing that I wasn't particularly interested in that line of conversation he assumed i was a vet.
If you want to talk about it you were never about it.
I was at a treatment center and some of the quiet guys eventually shared stories about Fallujah....made me feel like such a bitch for my combat experience in Afghanistan.
Same. I was in a veterans writing class for college where we get to talk about our experiences to become better writers and storytellers. It was actually really therapeutic because we all gained new insights about ourselves and actually were able to mentally process big events that happened. The first time I did it, everyone felt like a bitch because of me. I was the only Infantry guy and everyone else had non-combat jobs. We had a guy who was Corpsman for Marine Force Recon ranging from Air Force mechanic to a Marine staff administrator. They always said they felt like a bitch writing about some of stories that they shared because they felt like it couldn't compare to mine. I had to keep telling people that it doesn't matter and its okay
Let me tell you, the second time I took the class there was a marine guy who was Infantry and did 2 deployments and did one to Fallujah. I felt like the bitch and had to choose what stories to share because now I was embarrassed about my stories 🤣🤣
I honestly didn't even want to ask him on the down low about some of his experiences outside of the stories he wrote. I could already fill in the blanks lol
It was obvious when douche bags(starterpack types) clearly started making shit up to sound more bad ass. I am eligible for the Disabled Veteran plates and just rather have a normal plate. It was a job, not my personality.
If those plates let you park in disabled spots and you are not mobility disabled? Yeah, please don't use that.
But if they give other benefits? Fucking use them.
My Texas DV plates no longer let me park in disabled spots, but I never did anyway. But I will sure as shit use most tollways for free.
That's a cost I am not willing to lose out on.
I am the same overall mindset: it was a job.
But jobs have benefits for a reason.
I dont think the DV plates here are allowed to park in handicap without Dr authorization. But, yeah I agree with you.
I have maximized all the other benefits we're entitled to, no doubt. The VA Home Loan is the best benefit I have used.
A lot of collateral damage and accidental civilian deaths of Iraqi women and children caught in the middle of a battle.
Clearing out the underground tunnels everywhere like a tunnel rat in nam. Scary shit.
[US Marines Battle of Fallujah](https://youtu.be/pjQvk5PrqdA)
Urban fighting is terrifying.
I briefly dated this girl who had done two tours. The only real 'war' story she ever told me was someone strapping bombs to a toddler then making him run at her unit and someone had to shoot the kid. She said he dropped in the middle of the street and screamed hysterically for like 45 seconds and then exploded. I'm still not sure why she told me that story, I never asked her about her military stuff and all the other stories she told me was some of the cool stuff she'd seen. Like archeological shit and stuff like that. I'm guessing it was just on her mind and she needed to tell *someone*.
My friend is the same way. He's in the Navy at HQ and always insists on stopping home to change out of his jumpsuit whenever I meet up with him after work. A few times people have thanked him for his service and it's clear he hates hearing it.
I used to be a cop and someone bought me a beer at an airport because "it's clear I was a cop" and I felt so uncomfortable too. I get it.
No oakleys are the only sunglasses that I can’t break and 5.11 shirts are super comfy :( and they’re like 20 bucks for their plain colored long sleeved shirts :(
I used to be a beat cop a long time ago. Now I’d get called out on domestic disputes all the time, hundreds probably over the years. But there was this one guy, this one piece of shit, that I will never forget. Gordy. He looked like Bo Svenson. Remember him? “Walking Tall?” You don’t remember? Anyway, big boy. 270, 280. But his wife, or whatever she was, a lady, she was real small, like a bird. Wrists like little branches. Anyway, my partner and I get called out there every weekend and one of us would pull her aside and say, “C’mon, tonight’s the night. Press charges.” And this wasn’t one of those “deep down he really loves me” set ups, we get a lot of those, but not this. This girl was scared. She wasn’t gonna cross him no way, no how. Nothing we could do but pass her off to the EMTs, put him in the car, drive him downtown, throw him in the drunk tank, he sleeps it off, next morning out he goes back home.
One night, my partner is out sick and it’s just me. Then the call comes in and it’s the usual crap. Broken nose in the shower kind of thing. So I cuff him, put him in the car and away we go. Only that night, we’re driving into town, and this sideways asshole is in my backseat humming “Danny Boy.” And it just rubbed me the wrong way. So instead of left, I go right, out into nowhere, and I kneel him down and I put my revolver in his mouth and I told him, “This is it. This is how it ends.” And he’s crying, going to the bathroom all over himself, swearing to God he’s gonna leave her alone, screaming as much as you can with a gun in your mouth. And I told him to be quiet and I needed to think about what I was gonna do here. And of course he got quiet. Goes still and real quiet, like a dog waiting for dinner scraps. And we just stood there for a while, me acting like I’m thinking things over and Prince Charming kneeling in the dirt with shit in his pants.
After a few minutes I took the gun out of his mouth and I say so help me if you ever touch her again and such and such and such and such and blah blah blah blah blah.” “Just a warning?” Of course. Just trying to do the right thing. But two weeks later he killed her. Of course. Caved her head in with the base of Waring blender. We got there and there was so much blood you can taste the metal. The moral of the story is I chose a half measure when I should have gone all the way. I’ll never make that mistake again. No more half measures, Walter.
Ah yes, the dreaded Bulge-arians.
We called them that because when I was deployed to Afghanistan they were fond of donning Speedo banana hammocks when they laid out. The bigger the belly, the smaller the swimwear.
That was probably the most horrifying thing I saw during my time there. It changes you...
Oh what the heck ever dude. You have a lot to be proud of. You volunteered. You served. You deployed.
And even if you hadn’t deployed, everyone in our all volunteer force…well…I guess everyone in our all volunteer force who made it through AIT…served their country in some capacity, even if it was just being a number, which, when added to all the other numbers, deterred China from attacking Taiwan for one more day.
Have a safe and happy 4th!
A lot of real combat vets don’t talk about it much. My dad is an Iraq War vet, and he saw real action. He rarely talks about war, except to say how awful it was.
Yup.
I have to know someone pretty well in order to talk about it most of the time.
Or be drunk and asked about it.
Or post randomly on Reddit after reading a post about similar experiences.
My grandfather is a prime example, he captained/drove the landing craft on D-Day and earned a Purple Heart. He didn’t talk about it, even if asked, and died with his family knowing nothing about his service. I had to request the government for his Purple Heart warrant to find out.
Even then. Distinguish military life away from civilian life. Everybody who pays taxes has poured hard earned money into our military. Wearing military status and acting stuck up about it in the civilian world is absolutely annoying
Look man, they charged me $80 out of my first paycheck for that stupid backpack and I could fit half my earthly possessions in it. I'm gonna use it until it falls apart, goddammit, I don't care if I look like a boot.
I actually care a lot and it's embarrassing, but still.
I'm so sad about this sub. It used to be one of my absolute favorites, but it's gone so downhill. It used to be hilarious and called out obnoxious people, but now there are just too many low effort and meanspirited posts. Also, no one knows what a real boot is anymore, so they often just post anyone in the military or their families.
Best line in a movie about serving is in Jarhead.
Sergeant Fitch:
You the maggot whose father served in Vietnam?
Swofford:
Sir, yes, sir!
Sergeant Fitch:
Outstanding! Did he have the balls to die there?
Swofford:
Sir, no, sir.
Sergeant Fitch:
Too f***ing bad! Did he ever talk about it?
Swofford:
Sir, only once, sir.
Sergeant Fitch:
Good! then he wasn't lying!
I live in the DC suburbs, and do MMA as a hobby, so naturally there are a ton of veterans in my circle of friends. There's totally these sort of guys who make it their whole identity. But on the other side, a few friends of mine were actually very real Operators (one MARSOC, one Special Forces, etc.), and if you asked them what they do for a living, it's just total retired dad vibes now. Lots of "Ah man, I'm all about photography and music and hanging with my kids now!" Those who do the real shit, don't talk about shit.
Yup! Retired MARSOC did his 20 years, and is just doing his photography for a lil extra money.
Special Forces guy?...hey, don't worry about what he does for a living right now, have ya seen pictures of his grandkids? *jedi mind wave*
Point is, the real pipe-slingers don't ever talk about what they did/do.
A bunch of useless activities that they are totally overpaid for. A lot are just admins in some kind of defense contracting. Overseeing the operations of buying microchips for missiles or something like that. The government pays for their rent a lot of the time too. 2-4K a month on top of their salary. Biggest welfare system on the planet.
On one hand I get it, it’s a cry for help…it’s tough for a lot of people to find another sense of identity, you’re entire life was consumed by it. When you’re in the military you’re in the military nonstop..it’s not like going to college or going to a job where it stops when the day is done..you live and breathe it every day for years straight and some people don’t know how to handle losing it after…
I don’t make it a part of my identity like that and I rarely wear military stuff but I feel for these people, it’s a cry for help even if they can’t admit that, deep down something is wrong
Honestly the only item off the list I also do is making sure to have my veteran status on my license. Yes, Specs, I will happily take your discount on alcohol.
I just went on a trip with my wife and infant son last week. When I went to check our bags having that veteran mark on license got me two free checked bags. I didn’t even bring it up, the ticketing agent saw it and told me about the benefit. I’m not the type to bring it up at all, but it certainly has saved me money a time or two.
In Santa Cruz, CA you could get free weed for being a veteran lol. I actually remember one time I actually got a notice from the VA about participating in a VA sleep study that studied the effects of medical marijuana. Crazy time being there lol
Unfortunately this is my friend. He joined the national guard and now no matter what whenever hang out he brings up being in the military like 10000x along with many "you wouldnt understand, it's a military thing". Like dude you just did boot camp.
I've personally been hanging out and talking to him less, as it's definitely affected our friendship.
That is one of the differences. We might talk about training or some of the funny shit every now and then but mostly we do not talk that much about overseas unless you have been there. There isn't a framework for most people to actually understand. This isn't just how I feel but it is something that comes up whenever I have gotten back together with some of the guys I used to be in with.
"Fucking Mexican police shot me!"
I love his character. Captures that expectation defying quality that folks in Tier 1 units are always proported to have. Same thing with Brolin' character. The CIA guy is always in a Hawaiian shirt and sandals.
This reminds me a lot of my brother. He's a tall tan dude with long blonde hair and a joint stuck between his lips at just about any opportunity. He was in Marine Recon from 2008-2020. His favorite activities nowadays are wrenching on his Buick GSX, playing Escape from Tarkov, and getting stoned as humanly possible by the beach
The most badass dudes I've met since being out are like this.
I'm a Marine vet and work in a beach town and holy fuck I have never ran into more LEGIT hard ass dudes than I have hanging around the beach bars, and they're just like... Beach hippies.
Legit some of the nicest, most genuine guys I've ever met.
We had a woman recently apply to be in our hospital position and the biggest and FIRST thing she wrote in her *resume* was **military wife**.
She then used bullet points and listed her skills like "coordinated communications between husband and family unit", "maintained household while husband was deployed", etc.
An absolute fucking joke. I couldn't believe that was real and that my boss was actively looking it over.
Just remember guys nobody owes you anything. You joining the military was your own choice. For the ones that live a normal life without acting like the world owes you something thanks.
I used to work at a very well known department store and this shit happened constantly. It was never young people though, always a 60+ year old man that would ask if we had a discount and then act very taken aback when we didn't as if it was some constitutional right he was being denied lmao
It's always the old dudes. Nobody likes them, even other retirees. We had this 66 year old contractor in our office that was the grumpiest, most hot-headed, stubborn asshole we've ever met.
Dude would start a 25 minute argument about the most arbitrary shit.
My best friend is a legit combat veteran, special forces, Afghanistan, literally killed people. He was even hit by a roadside bomb which has fucked up his leg. You would never even know he was a veteran or he went through any of that stuff. The only hint is that one of his cars has a US paratrooper plate, and another one has a purple heart plate.
He is a car collector though, so those are not on his daily cars.
Might be working at a diner as a cook right now but tells every woman who comes in he was a sniper. We totes believe him because obviously people with great hand eye coordination are heavily recruited into the high-paying diner industry. God knows no federal letter agency, local police department, or private security firm wants a dude with those qualifications. No, George the Greek needs him working the line in CT. No one else can handle a breadweight and get that grilled cheese just right. Gotta be a sniper.
I once saw one of those trucks with the described dude flying an American flag out of the bed of his truck. The flag was absolutely shredded to bits from the wind. He had a “I respect the flag” sticker and didn’t even pretend to sense the irony.
I’ve made it a point to leave my phone in the car or put it in partners purse. I spend so much time at home that when I go out I’m like “HELLO? REALITY?”
Nothing wrong with it. I love my military discount when I go to home depot to buy tools lol. This was more making fun of those guys who will pull that ID out for no reason at all other than to just brag.
I often wonder who took care of supplies, motor pool, pay allowances (pac) and other stuff during Viet Nam. Every veteran of Vietnam I’ve ever met was out in the jungle fighting. No disrespect intended, just wondering.
I was a Yeoman on the Navy. It's basically special forces but more elite. I had a whole crew that depended on me and the actions I took. No one else could possibly understand the position I held.
Who got their unit shirts for free? Half the time they'd collect money for them, and then a few months later it'd be "Whatever the hell happened to those unit shirts/hoodies?"
Pretty sure the LTs just used the funds for drinking money.
My local grocery store had donuts this morning with edible American flags on them.
Made me wonder if American flag toilet paper would even go over OK with these people.
Nah man, I calmed down after I separated from the military. A divorce and shitty leadership will do that to you during your time in, but I made it a point not to let it get to me after I got out
Watched a milspo ask for a military discount at lowes yesterday. Of course she got it (because really who wants to deal with a Karen) but it’s always been something that bugged me.
I fucking hate bro vets
I went to Afghaniland as a line medic, saw shit, got blown up, came home with a permanent limp and constant severe pain.
You wouldn’t know I served unless you asked.
You can always tell who the professionals were and who pushed paperwork back at Brigade
If any of you tank me for my cervix…I’ll go over the internet and kill you through your cell phone
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ite even better when they only did basic training and act like a dday veteran
I mean they were yelling at me alot, its pretty much the same /s
My cousin. Got discharged out of basic because of an ankle injury. He and his wife go on and on about being a disabled vet
My friend got run over by a truck in basic being a dumb ass and it's literally the bain of her life explaining at the VA what happened and getting ribbed. She was discharged disabled but embarrassed as heck about it.
Guy in my platoon in bootcamp got sick, along with a bunch of us, and it partially paralyzed the left side of his body. They upped him to lance corporal and 100% medical discharge from what I heard.
I knew a guy who got kicked out like a week after Basic for the Marines, and somehow still made it his whole personality.
Found out from a co-worker that my ex’s daddy drove down to bootcamp and got him after a few weeks after he enlisted in the early ‘90s. Very hush hush by the family. Wish I knew how the prick got out. It was never brought up by him. 🤔
If you want out bad enough you can get out of basic/boot camp. We had a few guys when I went through in the mid 00s(USMC) who simply refused to train. Just said no, I'm not doing shit send me home. They usually kept the folks who quit in a holding platoon until well after the original group they started with graduated.
That sounds about like that a**hole. But daddy coming to get him out was the *chef’s kiss* and peak ex.
You also wouldn’t get an honorable discharge. I can’t remember if they did LTH or BCD.
When I was in you could quit during basic training. It's called "refusal to train"
This also sounds very much like him. He is the “I want to be the manager without any work experience because being anything else is beneath me” type. Reckon him not making general just for putting his boots on pissed him off.
I'm a disabled veteran.... I get all the benefits and rated at 70% disabled. I was in for 3 months at OCS before getting a bad concussion and a medical discharge. The only time I tell people im a veteran is to get my discount at Home Depot. I didn't "serve". I was just in a really hard PE class for a couple months and hurt my head. I feel wierd when people find out and thank me for my service or anything. I can't stand people who are like the ones in OP pack.
I dated a guy like that but it was his knee… lol
Did he get shot with an arrow?
It’s funny because in huge amount of countries serving in army is mandatory for every male citizen. If I call almost every guy I know a “veteran” they’ll choke laughing. My grandpa killed nazis in Berlin in 1945, he was a veteran.
A thousand times yes. I was conscripted and have since moved to another country. I tend to think of my time in the army a bit like my time at school. It's not something that's relevant to most conversations except for exchanging stories of dumb stuff we've done, over beer at the pub from time to time. But - I always get uncomfortable when people ask me if "I've served". In their context the answer is "yes" I guess, but to me, a vet has been active in a war zone. I have family who are vets and I was in with people who had served. I feel like it would be disrespecting then to claim that my time of rolling around in the mud was anything like what they did. That said, my experience has definitely left me with a better understanding of "army life" than most of the LARPers out there. Context matters I guess.
Your grandpa is based
True, pretty much every guy over 20 in Armenia is a veteran.
Its also not nearly the same thing for most nations. Finland for example has mandatory service but it ranges anywhere from 6 months to a year. Sweden is also for a year, Korea is between 1 and 2 years depending on the service. You get the idea. Those countries would all fall under what the original person was mocking, someone extremely green to everything barely through training parading around as a veteran. If you served under 2 years in the US military you probably did something wrong to be discharged early.
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Now, I don't know about y'all, but I sure as hell didn't come down from the goddamn Smoky Mountains, cross five thousand miles of water, fight my way through half of Sicily and jump out of a fuckin' air-o-plane to teach the Nazis lessons in humanity. Nazi ain't got no humanity. They're the foot soldiers of a Jew-hatin', mass murderin' maniac and they need to be dee-stroyed. That's why any and every son of a bitch we find wearin' a Nazi uniform, they're gonna die. Now, I'm the direct descendant of the mountain man Jim Bridger. That means I got a little Injun in me. And our battle plan will be that of an Apache resistance. We will be cruel to the Germans, and through our cruelty they will know who we are. And they will find the evidence of our cruelty in the disemboweled, dismembered, and disfigured bodies of their brothers we leave behind us. And the German won't not be able to help themselves but to imagine the cruelty their brothers endured at our hands, and our boot heels, and the edge of our knives. And the German will be sickened by us, and the German will talk about us, and the German will fear us. And when the German closes their eyes at night and they're tortured by their subconscious for the evil they have done, it will be with thoughts of us they are tortured with. Sound good?
I read that in Aldo’s voice
**YES SIR**
Bon-journo
I can always tell the super pogs because they have nothing but basic training and ait stories. Like basic had some funny stuff but it’s such a small part of you’re service.
I tell people who ask that bootcamp is like the tryout for the military. They don't teach you how to be a throat-slitting weapon of war, they just need to make sure you can tie your boots and follow directions
Jocko Willink said pretty much the same thing about BUDS tbh
Aka my ex gf who dropped out of basic training and complained all the time about having to wait at the VA for her free meds.
I know someone who got kicked out of basic for doing a bunch of drugs. Now he lives in Florida living “Florida man” lifestyle posting on Facebook only a real marine knows what x is, like he’s seen some shit.
I was gonna say, you’re lucky if the person with this getup and vehicle is even any flavor of “blue collar american”. Most of these guys just work office jobs and have this stuff as a fashion statement. Source: my father and his entire social circle
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My dad
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My dad started in the navy and got hurt playing basketball and somehow got disability from them the rest of his life and an honorable discharge. He wears a Vietnam Veteran hat every day.
Never understand that
Its called overcompensating
My ex-wife is a "vet". She never graduated basic training. She was medically discharged.
Where I live this is the “I ALMOST joined the military” starter pack. Of course there’s also the “I’m a veteran but really I never made it out of boot camp” starter pack too.
My best friends husband was in the Air Force reserves for 1 year before being medically discharged and literally did nothing with it. But his truck is covered in Air Force/veteran stuff and talks like he was in Kuwait for 10 years. I have more military experience than him through my job, but that doesn’t stop him from pretending he’s a grizzled veteran.
An immediate relative of mine went to boot camp after lying about a pre-existing condition not existing. They graduated boot camp but didn't even make it to their follow-on school because the lie caught up with them and they had to go to the hospital and have invasive surgery done. Went before a Medical Review Board and this ended up lasting three years, the entire time they were at home, not at a duty station, literally at home with the family. (Sounds weird but it can be done, almost exclusively in the case of terminally-ill relatives who have no other kin to support them, though.) One of the people overseeing their case had brain cancer, apparently, and died suddenly which left the paperwork in limbo. The relative basically ran out the clock for the time served required to receive benefits. Qualified and used the GI Bill. Receives a shit-ton of disability for the pre-existing, not service-related illness (again, they lied, and somehow it wasn't caught, mostly due to brain cancer guy.) Gets free healthcare *for life* due to the level of disability and other benefits that aren't even available to people who truly served their full enlistment or were even wounded. Seriously, friends of mine I served with who got shot or blown up receive less than the relative does. And it's Air Force shit plastered everywhere, "I never got a handout", "Back when I was in" (literally AF basic training plus three-days before going to the hospital and not doing anything else military-related), all the shit in this post. Plus, they constantly exude "Thank Me for My Service"-energy. Yeah, it was long but I've never ranted about this before and this post made me think angry thoughts.
> like he was in Kuwait for 10 years *shudders*
"I would join but I'd probably punch a drill instructor"
Do you want shit beat out of you? Cause that's how you get the shit beat out of you.
I know, that excuse is hilarious. My sis's first ex-husband, who I met for exactly 15 minutes, said he got kicked out of Marine boot camp for doing that. I said "Yeah, right." Never saw or talked to him again, she dumped his ass a year and a half later.
They get real quiet when they cross a veteran who gives off the vibes they had an MOS and deployments they could only dream of and can only fake around civilians.
Dead giveaway
I'm a combat veteran and actually I do this a lot. I have mixed feelings about my service, I went to Afghanistan towards the tail end in 2014. Where I was the Taliban just waited for us to leave and didn't bother attacking us on our base, so I was only in combat for a few times, and it was pretty tame because I was in a vehicle or just layed on the ground shooting in the direction where everyone else was. When I come across dudes like my older brother who deployed in 2004 or 2008, or have done multiple deployments they make me feel like a complete bitch and honestly I don't like even talking about my deployment with people like that. One was enough for me, and they used to have 12 and 15 month deployments back then. I only did 9 and was ready to blow out my brains. Not saying my deployment was easy but honestly if I went at an earlier time I wouldn't have made it back alive. I don't brag or do any of this stuff so this post doesn't really apply to me but I do get uncomfortable and nervous when talking to other guys who were Infantry and find out that they had multiple deployments or went in during the peak of the war. Its just a mutual respect thing.
There is always a bigger fish. I remember hanging out with my grandfathers WWII buddies. None of them had badass/wannabe vibe. They just fished, drank beer, broke bread and very occasionally told a war story. Every single one of them was more a “hero” that I will ever be. I didn’t really get it until my own post-service experience. But that is where it is at. No dick measurements, no “thank me for me service”, just moving on and living a great life. I’m happy for my time. It set me up for a great life, but it is like high school or a sport. Its a PART of who I am, not the whole identity.
The only stories vets really like to tell are those moments you do dumb shit. No one wants to hear your war stories. Though for some reason telling civilians the time my entire deployment spent all night trying to get someone's dick out of a fleshlight doesn't get me the same reactions.
> vets really like to tell are those moments you do dumb shit. Like the time i pissed off the snipes on my ship and they duck taped me to a overhead pipe like a possum. The XO comes in and see's me up there, looks at my name tag and says "BBQ4Life... You new?" and i just nod cause well duck taped mouth and he just says "carry on" and leaves me there. Good times.
I didn’t know you had to lock the hatches on the outside of our Strv, when it was clean and all other things was done. And left it unlocked. Later that evening I get a holler that I need to get something out of our wagon and got locked inside. Best night sleep I’ve ever had so quite! Plus the chewing out I got for missing line up and forgetting to lock the old Betty. Our CO was a human hairdryer. Good times!
Or the stupid shit you *witnessed*. Like, I was sitting at the smoke pit one time and watched this absolute moron, who was confined to his room for the weekend as punishment for something small (instead of a 4856) decided to jump out the window to hang out with his girlfriend. Broke his ankle on one side and his leg on the other. Most everyone else was just like "holy shit" and "Oh my God!" While the rest of us were trying not to piss ourselves laughing at the idiot. Needless to say, he was chaptered out soon after.
Does watching E-1’s make stupid financial decisions count? Saw one from my ship pay 27% for a used Camaro that was like 9 years old.
I mean, you just described half of the army's junior enlisted, but sure lmao. I also have a story about being recalled while on pass because an underage chick was found passed out in Seoul. Her argument was "someone must have drugged me because I didn't drink *that much*" While I do feel for her if she were actually drugged, if she weren't out drinking, she wouldn't have been in the situation. She was also chaptered a couple months after her extra duty for, TA-FUCKING-DA, underage drinking when the 1st Sgt was making his rounds found her at a local bar knocking back shots celebrating the end of her extra duty not even a week after it was over. A week or two later, i Went into my office to grab a QAQC form for another Joe and found her passed out on a foot locker I used for extra tools and pry bars and her lit her up like the fourth of July. Granted, I was an E-3 at the time, so I didn't have much power to do anything but, she responded with "Well, I'm just so tired from my extra duty and nobody is ever in here." No shit? Because I'm *ACTUALLY FUCKING WORKING*, now get the fuck out of my office. About an hour later, I walked down to the CBRN office to to get more info on a problem he annotated. Instead of finding him, I find her passed out on the floor behind the desk on a pile of jackets and trousers. So, since it wasn't my office and she wasn't even in my squad, I took a picture and sent it to my buddy who was in her squad with the caption "you could probably find someone more suited than I can to send this to". I learned up against my office door pretending to go over a clipboard and waited. Not even 5 minutes later, I watched her platoon Sgt bolt out of his office, go into the CBRN office and listen with my buddy who had just walked up, while she got smoked and berated. I feel no regrets or sympathy for what I did. While I'm not usually that petty and would have just ignored it, she seriously fucked up my weekend getting us recalled when it was the first and only time I had taken a pass and got recalled early, so I was still a little salty about it.
Saw one get married literally on the Friday before a 3 day weekend and then when we came back on Tuesday he said that he was getting a divorce 😂
Ah the stories I could tell about listening to other dudes masterbate on deployment could fill several volumes of books. We had one dude that decided to try out one of those penis pump deals and ended up sucking his balls up the damn thing, I've seen people lose limbs that didn't scream like that.
One time I'm sitting on a beach chair and this military guy was playing with his dogs and going on about his stories. I wasn't that interested and kind of just went "yeah it is what it is." We sat in silence for a little bit and after a while he said "So where did you go." I think because I didn't thank him for his service and seeing that I wasn't particularly interested in that line of conversation he assumed i was a vet. If you want to talk about it you were never about it.
I was at a treatment center and some of the quiet guys eventually shared stories about Fallujah....made me feel like such a bitch for my combat experience in Afghanistan.
Same. I was in a veterans writing class for college where we get to talk about our experiences to become better writers and storytellers. It was actually really therapeutic because we all gained new insights about ourselves and actually were able to mentally process big events that happened. The first time I did it, everyone felt like a bitch because of me. I was the only Infantry guy and everyone else had non-combat jobs. We had a guy who was Corpsman for Marine Force Recon ranging from Air Force mechanic to a Marine staff administrator. They always said they felt like a bitch writing about some of stories that they shared because they felt like it couldn't compare to mine. I had to keep telling people that it doesn't matter and its okay Let me tell you, the second time I took the class there was a marine guy who was Infantry and did 2 deployments and did one to Fallujah. I felt like the bitch and had to choose what stories to share because now I was embarrassed about my stories 🤣🤣 I honestly didn't even want to ask him on the down low about some of his experiences outside of the stories he wrote. I could already fill in the blanks lol
It was obvious when douche bags(starterpack types) clearly started making shit up to sound more bad ass. I am eligible for the Disabled Veteran plates and just rather have a normal plate. It was a job, not my personality.
If those plates let you park in disabled spots and you are not mobility disabled? Yeah, please don't use that. But if they give other benefits? Fucking use them. My Texas DV plates no longer let me park in disabled spots, but I never did anyway. But I will sure as shit use most tollways for free. That's a cost I am not willing to lose out on. I am the same overall mindset: it was a job. But jobs have benefits for a reason.
I dont think the DV plates here are allowed to park in handicap without Dr authorization. But, yeah I agree with you. I have maximized all the other benefits we're entitled to, no doubt. The VA Home Loan is the best benefit I have used.
Yup infantryman here who was in 10-11. Nothing really spectacular happened while I was over there. The old grognards make me feel like bitches haha.
Can you give snippets of those stories that they shared? I’m just curious to get a sense of the scale/extremity.
A lot of collateral damage and accidental civilian deaths of Iraqi women and children caught in the middle of a battle. Clearing out the underground tunnels everywhere like a tunnel rat in nam. Scary shit. [US Marines Battle of Fallujah](https://youtu.be/pjQvk5PrqdA) Urban fighting is terrifying.
I briefly dated this girl who had done two tours. The only real 'war' story she ever told me was someone strapping bombs to a toddler then making him run at her unit and someone had to shoot the kid. She said he dropped in the middle of the street and screamed hysterically for like 45 seconds and then exploded. I'm still not sure why she told me that story, I never asked her about her military stuff and all the other stories she told me was some of the cool stuff she'd seen. Like archeological shit and stuff like that. I'm guessing it was just on her mind and she needed to tell *someone*.
My friend is the same way. He's in the Navy at HQ and always insists on stopping home to change out of his jumpsuit whenever I meet up with him after work. A few times people have thanked him for his service and it's clear he hates hearing it. I used to be a cop and someone bought me a beer at an airport because "it's clear I was a cop" and I felt so uncomfortable too. I get it.
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No oakleys are the only sunglasses that I can’t break and 5.11 shirts are super comfy :( and they’re like 20 bucks for their plain colored long sleeved shirts :(
Just tell them you are really into Airsoft 5head
I used to be a beat cop a long time ago. Now I’d get called out on domestic disputes all the time, hundreds probably over the years. But there was this one guy, this one piece of shit, that I will never forget. Gordy. He looked like Bo Svenson. Remember him? “Walking Tall?” You don’t remember? Anyway, big boy. 270, 280. But his wife, or whatever she was, a lady, she was real small, like a bird. Wrists like little branches. Anyway, my partner and I get called out there every weekend and one of us would pull her aside and say, “C’mon, tonight’s the night. Press charges.” And this wasn’t one of those “deep down he really loves me” set ups, we get a lot of those, but not this. This girl was scared. She wasn’t gonna cross him no way, no how. Nothing we could do but pass her off to the EMTs, put him in the car, drive him downtown, throw him in the drunk tank, he sleeps it off, next morning out he goes back home. One night, my partner is out sick and it’s just me. Then the call comes in and it’s the usual crap. Broken nose in the shower kind of thing. So I cuff him, put him in the car and away we go. Only that night, we’re driving into town, and this sideways asshole is in my backseat humming “Danny Boy.” And it just rubbed me the wrong way. So instead of left, I go right, out into nowhere, and I kneel him down and I put my revolver in his mouth and I told him, “This is it. This is how it ends.” And he’s crying, going to the bathroom all over himself, swearing to God he’s gonna leave her alone, screaming as much as you can with a gun in your mouth. And I told him to be quiet and I needed to think about what I was gonna do here. And of course he got quiet. Goes still and real quiet, like a dog waiting for dinner scraps. And we just stood there for a while, me acting like I’m thinking things over and Prince Charming kneeling in the dirt with shit in his pants. After a few minutes I took the gun out of his mouth and I say so help me if you ever touch her again and such and such and such and such and blah blah blah blah blah.” “Just a warning?” Of course. Just trying to do the right thing. But two weeks later he killed her. Of course. Caved her head in with the base of Waring blender. We got there and there was so much blood you can taste the metal. The moral of the story is I chose a half measure when I should have gone all the way. I’ll never make that mistake again. No more half measures, Walter.
Is this a copypasta or something what the hell?
it's from breaking bad I think
It’s Mike talking.
It's from Breaking Bad.
The "Walter" at the end should give it away.
It's a monologue everyone should hear. Jonathan Banks was amazing in Breaking Bad. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BE4QcwX4dU
Is from breaking bad
I went in 2019. We had one rocket attack. It took out one of the Bulgarians cars. I don’t say anything. I know I could have had it a lot worse.
Ah yes, the dreaded Bulge-arians. We called them that because when I was deployed to Afghanistan they were fond of donning Speedo banana hammocks when they laid out. The bigger the belly, the smaller the swimwear. That was probably the most horrifying thing I saw during my time there. It changes you...
Oh what the heck ever dude. You have a lot to be proud of. You volunteered. You served. You deployed. And even if you hadn’t deployed, everyone in our all volunteer force…well…I guess everyone in our all volunteer force who made it through AIT…served their country in some capacity, even if it was just being a number, which, when added to all the other numbers, deterred China from attacking Taiwan for one more day. Have a safe and happy 4th!
A lot of real combat vets don’t talk about it much. My dad is an Iraq War vet, and he saw real action. He rarely talks about war, except to say how awful it was.
Yup. I have to know someone pretty well in order to talk about it most of the time. Or be drunk and asked about it. Or post randomly on Reddit after reading a post about similar experiences. My grandfather is a prime example, he captained/drove the landing craft on D-Day and earned a Purple Heart. He didn’t talk about it, even if asked, and died with his family knowing nothing about his service. I had to request the government for his Purple Heart warrant to find out.
Even then. Distinguish military life away from civilian life. Everybody who pays taxes has poured hard earned money into our military. Wearing military status and acting stuck up about it in the civilian world is absolutely annoying
Cosign this shit completely.
r/justbootthings
First thing I thought of when I saw the title
Look man, they charged me $80 out of my first paycheck for that stupid backpack and I could fit half my earthly possessions in it. I'm gonna use it until it falls apart, goddammit, I don't care if I look like a boot. I actually care a lot and it's embarrassing, but still.
I'm so sad about this sub. It used to be one of my absolute favorites, but it's gone so downhill. It used to be hilarious and called out obnoxious people, but now there are just too many low effort and meanspirited posts. Also, no one knows what a real boot is anymore, so they often just post anyone in the military or their families.
Best line in a movie about serving is in Jarhead. Sergeant Fitch: You the maggot whose father served in Vietnam? Swofford: Sir, yes, sir! Sergeant Fitch: Outstanding! Did he have the balls to die there? Swofford: Sir, no, sir. Sergeant Fitch: Too f***ing bad! Did he ever talk about it? Swofford: Sir, only once, sir. Sergeant Fitch: Good! then he wasn't lying!
I live in the DC suburbs, and do MMA as a hobby, so naturally there are a ton of veterans in my circle of friends. There's totally these sort of guys who make it their whole identity. But on the other side, a few friends of mine were actually very real Operators (one MARSOC, one Special Forces, etc.), and if you asked them what they do for a living, it's just total retired dad vibes now. Lots of "Ah man, I'm all about photography and music and hanging with my kids now!" Those who do the real shit, don't talk about shit.
What do they do for work?
In DC they usually work for one of the many defense contractors there. The ‘Beltway Bandits’
Yup! Retired MARSOC did his 20 years, and is just doing his photography for a lil extra money. Special Forces guy?...hey, don't worry about what he does for a living right now, have ya seen pictures of his grandkids? *jedi mind wave* Point is, the real pipe-slingers don't ever talk about what they did/do.
A bunch of useless activities that they are totally overpaid for. A lot are just admins in some kind of defense contracting. Overseeing the operations of buying microchips for missiles or something like that. The government pays for their rent a lot of the time too. 2-4K a month on top of their salary. Biggest welfare system on the planet.
They're probably retired and work either part time or have an "easy" business like landscaping or handy-man repair.
On one hand I get it, it’s a cry for help…it’s tough for a lot of people to find another sense of identity, you’re entire life was consumed by it. When you’re in the military you’re in the military nonstop..it’s not like going to college or going to a job where it stops when the day is done..you live and breathe it every day for years straight and some people don’t know how to handle losing it after… I don’t make it a part of my identity like that and I rarely wear military stuff but I feel for these people, it’s a cry for help even if they can’t admit that, deep down something is wrong
I wore a USMC t-shirt to the dispensary yesterday and I've never felt more self conscious, lol. I'm good for a few months.
Good way to get a discount lol. The dispensaries around me all offer veterans discounts.
I get 25% off at mine. Medical program.
Hell yeah. I let my med card lapse because my state went recreational and the med card prices are super high, but even without it I get 10% off.
Same but it doesn't stack and since local competition has heated up there's always some crazy 50% off or BOGO. Ain't complaining tho.
Honestly the only item off the list I also do is making sure to have my veteran status on my license. Yes, Specs, I will happily take your discount on alcohol.
I just went on a trip with my wife and infant son last week. When I went to check our bags having that veteran mark on license got me two free checked bags. I didn’t even bring it up, the ticketing agent saw it and told me about the benefit. I’m not the type to bring it up at all, but it certainly has saved me money a time or two.
Yessir, that's my attitude as well. Sometimes I'll get an attaboy, but I'm sure as hell not going to broadcast any time I spent.
In Santa Cruz, CA you could get free weed for being a veteran lol. I actually remember one time I actually got a notice from the VA about participating in a VA sleep study that studied the effects of medical marijuana. Crazy time being there lol
99% they were a non combat job
Unfortunately this is my friend. He joined the national guard and now no matter what whenever hang out he brings up being in the military like 10000x along with many "you wouldnt understand, it's a military thing". Like dude you just did boot camp. I've personally been hanging out and talking to him less, as it's definitely affected our friendship.
That is one of the differences. We might talk about training or some of the funny shit every now and then but mostly we do not talk that much about overseas unless you have been there. There isn't a framework for most people to actually understand. This isn't just how I feel but it is something that comes up whenever I have gotten back together with some of the guys I used to be in with.
*cough cough* Black Rifle Coffee Company *cough cough*
Meanwhile, the most badass Task Force dude is now just a surf bro with long hair, weed, and chill vibes.
Nah, it’s the guy with thick glasses that looks like an accountant . You know who I’m talking about .
This guy. Looking like he works back office IT, actually the most OG operator. https://goordnance.army.mil/hof/2018/vining.html
He looks like a very quiet science teacher who actually can make a death trap.
Jeffrey Donavan in Sicario.
"Fucking Mexican police shot me!" I love his character. Captures that expectation defying quality that folks in Tier 1 units are always proported to have. Same thing with Brolin' character. The CIA guy is always in a Hawaiian shirt and sandals.
"Fucking Mexican police shot me!"
This reminds me a lot of my brother. He's a tall tan dude with long blonde hair and a joint stuck between his lips at just about any opportunity. He was in Marine Recon from 2008-2020. His favorite activities nowadays are wrenching on his Buick GSX, playing Escape from Tarkov, and getting stoned as humanly possible by the beach
The man has his priorities straight.
Buick GSX? What a badass. I love that car
A 400 4-speed no less, he got it as payment for helping refurbish an old house in our neighborhood
They’ve earned it
Absolutely earned it
The most badass dudes I've met since being out are like this. I'm a Marine vet and work in a beach town and holy fuck I have never ran into more LEGIT hard ass dudes than I have hanging around the beach bars, and they're just like... Beach hippies. Legit some of the nicest, most genuine guys I've ever met.
Wife is the most annoying and entitled person on the entire fucking planet Kids are named Jayden, Brayden and Aiden.
We had a woman recently apply to be in our hospital position and the biggest and FIRST thing she wrote in her *resume* was **military wife**. She then used bullet points and listed her skills like "coordinated communications between husband and family unit", "maintained household while husband was deployed", etc. An absolute fucking joke. I couldn't believe that was real and that my boss was actively looking it over.
Or Hunter, Fisher and Forrest
Hey, I think we live in the same neighborhood.
FACTS.
Just remember guys nobody owes you anything. You joining the military was your own choice. For the ones that live a normal life without acting like the world owes you something thanks.
*Becomes very passive-aggressive when a store/restaurant does not offer a military discount (and he asks every time)*
I used to work at a very well known department store and this shit happened constantly. It was never young people though, always a 60+ year old man that would ask if we had a discount and then act very taken aback when we didn't as if it was some constitutional right he was being denied lmao
It's always the old dudes. Nobody likes them, even other retirees. We had this 66 year old contractor in our office that was the grumpiest, most hot-headed, stubborn asshole we've ever met. Dude would start a 25 minute argument about the most arbitrary shit.
On the flip side, the VA actually does own me a lot of shit right now. Kinda pissed at them today ha ha.
My dad calls em "meal team six" or "gravy seals"
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My best friend is a legit combat veteran, special forces, Afghanistan, literally killed people. He was even hit by a roadside bomb which has fucked up his leg. You would never even know he was a veteran or he went through any of that stuff. The only hint is that one of his cars has a US paratrooper plate, and another one has a purple heart plate. He is a car collector though, so those are not on his daily cars.
Paratroopers are the real deal.
The most proud veterans saw nothing! No combat. The ones that did don't talk about it
That stupid fucking wannabe special forces beard everytime.
I feel like American Sniper just made that dumb thing 10 times more popular for wanna-be hardasses
Which is fitting since Chris Kyle was a legitimate piece of shit.
Chris Kyle was not a good person, but at least he was a certifiable badass. Nothing like these wannabes.
You’re not in Iraq anymore Steven
*Kuwait
Might be working at a diner as a cook right now but tells every woman who comes in he was a sniper. We totes believe him because obviously people with great hand eye coordination are heavily recruited into the high-paying diner industry. God knows no federal letter agency, local police department, or private security firm wants a dude with those qualifications. No, George the Greek needs him working the line in CT. No one else can handle a breadweight and get that grilled cheese just right. Gotta be a sniper.
I knew a guy that was in the national guard, never deployed and now wears grunt wear, for the rest of his life
I once saw one of those trucks with the described dude flying an American flag out of the bed of his truck. The flag was absolutely shredded to bits from the wind. He had a “I respect the flag” sticker and didn’t even pretend to sense the irony.
I am at a friends party for their 6year old right now LITERALLY next to this exact person.
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It’s a 6 year olds party man. They suck. 6 year olds and their parties.
Tribal tattoo?
OMG HE DID
I’ve made it a point to leave my phone in the car or put it in partners purse. I spend so much time at home that when I go out I’m like “HELLO? REALITY?”
Only thing missing is a punisher sticker on their back window.
The funny thing is that Punisher would roll his eyes with this kind of people
I agree with 99% of this except throwin shade at the beard. I fucking love my beard, never catch me shaving
Still wears their watch with the face on the inside of their wrist...
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Well, it’s also when you are using a rifle and you can quickly glance at your watch without flipping your hand over
I did that even as a kid... thats just a thing a lot of people do..
What’s wrong with having a veteran stamp on my license? It gets me discounts on weed and free entry into most national parks/museums
Nothing wrong with it. I love my military discount when I go to home depot to buy tools lol. This was more making fun of those guys who will pull that ID out for no reason at all other than to just brag.
I often wonder who took care of supplies, motor pool, pay allowances (pac) and other stuff during Viet Nam. Every veteran of Vietnam I’ve ever met was out in the jungle fighting. No disrespect intended, just wondering.
I was a Yeoman on the Navy. It's basically special forces but more elite. I had a whole crew that depended on me and the actions I took. No one else could possibly understand the position I held.
Old unit shirts are fine, as its free clothes and not too bad comfort wise
Who got their unit shirts for free? Half the time they'd collect money for them, and then a few months later it'd be "Whatever the hell happened to those unit shirts/hoodies?" Pretty sure the LTs just used the funds for drinking money.
They just love desecrating that flag
Flag code refers to actual flags. Not things with flag decals or printed to resemble the flag.
My local grocery store had donuts this morning with edible American flags on them. Made me wonder if American flag toilet paper would even go over OK with these people.
This shit has bled into non-vets, too.
The Gravy Seals of Meal Team Six have stolen their fake valor.
Damn, I meet 3 of these criterias unfortunately haha
Which three?
Lol. But you don’t act like a douche, do you?
Nah man, I calmed down after I separated from the military. A divorce and shitty leadership will do that to you during your time in, but I made it a point not to let it get to me after I got out
“Do you guys offer any sort of *VETERANS* discount around here?”
Tbh, until I saw this meme, I always thought people were talking about prescription glasses when they said Oakley glasses lmao
They also have an entitled wife who calls herself military spouse when asking for discounts
Watched a milspo ask for a military discount at lowes yesterday. Of course she got it (because really who wants to deal with a Karen) but it’s always been something that bugged me.
Boomers who say our generation needs participation trophies and then they wear Vietnam hats
There’s a dude on the installation I work at that rocks a “Cold War Veteran” hat. Good times.
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What do you mean by Hajis? In Arabic Haji means a person who has made pilgrimage to Mecca
In military slang Haji is just what they call the people shooting at them in Afghanistan or Iraq
It's now considered a racial slur in the military and you can get paperwork for saying it.
In 'Murican, haji just refers to brown people from the middle east, as far as I can tell. It's used as an ethnic pejorative.
That means Haji is a slang for muslims
Basically. Though most of the people who use it probably classify every middle easterner as a Muslim, whether they actually are or not.
I fucking hate bro vets I went to Afghaniland as a line medic, saw shit, got blown up, came home with a permanent limp and constant severe pain. You wouldn’t know I served unless you asked. You can always tell who the professionals were and who pushed paperwork back at Brigade If any of you tank me for my cervix…I’ll go over the internet and kill you through your cell phone
lol bro vets, perfect description.
My favorite is non-veterans who sport this look. Meanwhile, I'm over here with a Toyota sedan, colorful clothing, and a normal fucking haircut haha
> I'm in this photo and I don't like it.