Are There Really So Many?

[mahtin]

One good thing about Harold Wilson, he kept us out of Vietnam.

[grantbkk]

When I was young, in my 50's, I spent a lot of time in the entertainment areas of Pattaya and Bangkok. I agree with the posters like Bonobo that there are far more Navy SEALS in Thailand that have ever been in military service. I met several Vietnam vets that were in every branch of special forces that were actually born after the conflict ended. They were all very special. The other thing that I found interesting was after 9/11 I must have met every undercover operator that work at the CIA, NSA, DIA, FBI, DEA and some other agencies that are so secret they couldn't tell me the name. If you smile and nod while engaging these "operators" they will tell you everything they've ever read or seen on TV about their jobs.

[bunta71]

Was this really me??army dude.pdf

[Loz]

Ever Seen the Movie, "Ronin"?

"What colour is the boat house at hereford?"

The classic exposing of the "fake" SAS, Spence (Sean Bean)

later when asked what the colour is, Sam replies. How the <deleted> should I know? - THe answer, to reveal nothing, which actually reveals everything.

[phutoie2]

Shssh!, there's 3 of us in this Moo with a combined total of 74 years service between us. Two light blues and one brown, we don't swing the Tilly lamp too much over beer and pensions can be a touchy subject.

Do not mention boys service!

[Loz]

phutoie,

I don't think people care about your eye colour?

[Felt 35]

Nothing special and no heroism here but spent most of my working life in the Army. Started out with obligatory duty in the Navy and ended up working on contracts for the Army both in country and abroad and yes a pension.

[tonywebster]

I am ex UK police, never been in the military and of all the people I have met here over 5 years only one has claimed to be ex military, ex USAF, as was his father before him. This guy is in his 50s and genuine.

[MJo]

There have been something like 6,000 US Navy SEALS since its inception, and I swear I have met 8,000 of them in various pubs!

As a midshipman, I attended a BUD/S Indoc course one summer, and I have trained with SEALS as a Marine, so I did get much of the cultural lingo. And there is one thing in training at Coronado where you enter the surf, then come out and roll in the sand, becoming a "sugar cookie," (funny until you have to run after.) And for all these wannabe SEALS, when I mention that, they think I am talking about a special treat in the chow hall!

Evidently, the big thing now is to say you were a Marine sniper. That is also a rather easy one to debunk. Then there was the Marine "general" who just got outed. He had been the grand marshal for a few parades and was a member of the local VFW. And recently, there was an Army or National Guard sergeant who was given enlisted at his rank based on his supposed Marine service as a sergeant. He was outed when he couldn't name his supposed Marine unit in Iraq.

It is pretty sorry when folks feel the necessity to make up military service. I don't think there are any more of them here in Thailand than anywhere else, though.

I never met a fake one. But i do have a theory on this.

Most normal decent people, after exposed to prolonged periods of talk of the good old army days by legit ex-military guys and bored to death, will crack and just out of boredom blurt out "yeah sure, i was special ops too" which in turn is taken very serious and misunderstood and complained about here in the forums. So could it be you guys, seeing these fakes all around you

[pmarlin]

Was this really me??army dude.pdf

[billd766]

Shssh!, there's 3 of us in this Moo with a combined total of 74 years service between us. Two light blues and one brown, we don't swing the Tilly lamp too much over beer and pensions can be a touchy subject.

Do not mention boys service!

I did my time in the Royal Air Force from January 1960 until May 1984 including 29 months as a boy entrant as I did not become 18 until 1962.

I thoroughly enjoyed it until the last several years when the annual exercises got to be a bit silly.

I am glad I did it but I don't think it is the same now for the reason that when I was in a lot of people in the government had also done their time and got their knees brown and had an idea of what it was all about.

Nowadays the British military are called on to do too much without adequate support backup.

[bonobo]

There have been something like 6,000 US Navy SEALS since its inception, and I swear I have met 8,000 of them in various pubs!

As a midshipman, I attended a BUD/S Indoc course one summer, and I have trained with SEALS as a Marine, so I did get much of the cultural lingo. And there is one thing in training at Coronado where you enter the surf, then come out and roll in the sand, becoming a "sugar cookie," (funny until you have to run after.) And for all these wannabe SEALS, when I mention that, they think I am talking about a special treat in the chow hall!

Evidently, the big thing now is to say you were a Marine sniper. That is also a rather easy one to debunk. Then there was the Marine "general" who just got outed. He had been the grand marshal for a few parades and was a member of the local VFW. And recently, there was an Army or National Guard sergeant who was given enlisted at his rank based on his supposed Marine service as a sergeant. He was outed when he couldn't name his supposed Marine unit in Iraq.

It is pretty sorry when folks feel the necessity to make up military service. I don't think there are any more of them here in Thailand than anywhere else, though.

I never met a fake one. But i do have a theory on this.

Most normal decent people, after exposed to prolonged periods of talk of the good old army days by legit ex-military guys and bored to death, will crack and just out of boredom blurt out "yeah sure, i was special ops too" which in turn is taken very serious and misunderstood and complained about here in the forums. So could it be you guys, seeing these fakes all around you

Well, since most of these guys have volunteered the info without me even mentioning the mliitary, others insist on their history, and yet others go and buy the uniforms and medals, I rather think that theory doesn't hold too much water.

[tigerfish]

just curious, wonder if any of you ex-servicemen have ever come across any of these lads?

its footage of the field gun competition held every year at the royal tournament(earls court) between devonport, fleet air arm and portsmouth.

i used to go every year with my parents when i was a young lad and it was my favorite part of the show.

on more than one occasion ive seen some really nasty accidents, in the three parts of the run.

Edited June 14, 2010 by tigerfish

[mark45y]

There a number of VFW posts in Thailand. It would be a simple matter to google VFW Thailand. To join you need a real dd-214 and that is a complete record of service. It was my experience that there were no fakes in the Pattaya VFW where I was a member. For those who don't know VFW means Veteran of foreign war so just being in the military is not enough to get in. You have to have served in a war zone during a war. The VFW does a lot of good things for Vets like fighting the agent orange thing when the military didn't want to pay the men who were getting sick because of exposure to agent orange. They help with benefits and do funerals, all sorts of things. It was sad to attend meetings and realize that the government is so anti Vets.

[gpdjohn]

Here I am.. but not saying which one.

Lead the Way!

[bunta71]

Easy to spot Johnny... You are the one with the bald ears...

[Daewoo]

Wondering if the OP is an Aussie... As an Aussie, I do find it curious how many ex-SAS/Seal/Special Forces/CIA I meet in Thailand, you just don't come across it as much at home...

Couple of things I put it down to...

The US Spends $US663,255,000,000 (4.3% of GDP) on Military Spending (source so I would assume that equates to quite a few servicemen... Seems to me, that getting some sort of 'special services' assignment isn't too hard either as long as you have full usage of 3/4 of your limbs...

The soap dodgers (UK) $US69,271,000,000 (2.5% of GDP)... so there are probably a few of them who actually joined up as well, and for them I guess all it takes to get into a specialised unit is not to dog when it comes time to be on the bottom of a group rogering...

We Aussies only spend $US20,109,000,000 (1.8% of GDP), so not that many guys get all dressed up with no one to kill... we also don't have many "SAS" type units, 'cause all Aussies are so tough you could cut off both their arms, tie their amputated arms behind their backs, poke out one eye with a stick, and leave them only one bullet and a blunt knife, and they would still be the ones saving the US and UK troops <deleted>... you don't get special assignements for only being as tough as everyone else...

Next...

For an Aussie, the Military, and especially the Army is a last resort for those who can not function and earn a crust doing anything... In Australian Pubs you have Ex-Army guys bragging about cleaning toilets in McDonalds ... The US especially seems to put a lot of respect in military service (according to a mate who went there as a civilian contractor after leaving our Navy)... so they haven't learnt that while they are bragging about doing training at Fort Apache, eveyone else is thinking "I would have though even he could have got a job picking fruit"...

Thirdly,

I like to go to bars that actually attract these sorts of guys... bars with girls and beers, and bars that especially in BKK are regular hang outs for guys flying in and out of Africa and ME doing 'security' work... I like sitting down, drinking beer, chatting to these guys and hearing some of their stories... I also like stirring them up a bit, and hope that I can outrun them if they take offense (but they have to be smart enough to realise I insulted them )... so I do get to meet more than when I am at home in Aus in front of the TV watching a documentary about how awsome Aussie soldiers are when they need to be (Kokoda, Ypres, The Somme)... and then, when the war is over, in typical Aussie fashion, go back to their own business, and leave it to others to decide whether they were great... So we Aussies are just not used to braggards telling us how good they are, it isn't the Australian way...

I must say I am still waiting for that conversation... "Yep, I did 49 years in the supply corps, never left Fort Bumf^ck Idaho, one time tho, we got this whole f^cking shippment that was labled creamed corn, but was actually baked beans, could light a match within the county for 28 days... hard f^cking times man, BooYaa"

Daewoo

[Nignoy]

Wondering if the OP is an Aussie... As an Aussie, I do find it curious how many ex-SAS/Seal/Special Forces/CIA I meet in Thailand, you just don't come across it as much at home...

Couple of things I put it down to...

The US Spends $US663,255,000,000 (4.3% of GDP) on Military Spending (source so I would assume that equates to quite a few servicemen... Seems to me, that getting some sort of 'special services' assignment isn't too hard either as long as you have full usage of 3/4 of your limbs...

The soap dodgers (UK) $US69,271,000,000 (2.5% of GDP)... so there are probably a few of them who actually joined up as well, and for them I guess all it takes to get into a specialised unit is not to dog when it comes time to be on the bottom of a group rogering...

We Aussies only spend $US20,109,000,000 (1.8% of GDP), so not that many guys get all dressed up with no one to kill... we also don't have many "SAS" type units, 'cause all Aussies are so tough you could cut off both their arms, tie their amputated arms behind their backs, poke out one eye with a stick, and leave them only one bullet and a blunt knife, and they would still be the ones saving the US and UK troops <deleted>... you don't get special assignements for only being as tough as everyone else...

Next...

For an Aussie, the Military, and especially the Army is a last resort for those who can not function and earn a crust doing anything... In Australian Pubs you have Ex-Army guys bragging about cleaning toilets in McDonalds ... The US especially seems to put a lot of respect in military service (according to a mate who went there as a civilian contractor after leaving our Navy)... so they haven't learnt that while they are bragging about doing training at Fort Apache, eveyone else is thinking "I would have though even he could have got a job picking fruit"...

Thirdly,

I like to go to bars that actually attract these sorts of guys... bars with girls and beers, and bars that especially in BKK are regular hang outs for guys flying in and out of Africa and ME doing 'security' work... I like sitting down, drinking beer, chatting to these guys and hearing some of their stories... I also like stirring them up a bit, and hope that I can outrun them if they take offense (but they have to be smart enough to realise I insulted them )... so I do get to meet more than when I am at home in Aus in front of the TV watching a documentary about how awsome Aussie soldiers are when they need to be (Kokoda, Ypres, The Somme)... and then, when the war is over, in typical Aussie fashion, go back to their own business, and leave it to others to decide whether they were great... So we Aussies are just not used to braggards telling us how good they are, it isn't the Australian way...

I must say I am still waiting for that conversation... "Yep, I did 49 years in the supply corps, never left Fort Bumf^ck Idaho, one time tho, we got this whole f^cking shippment that was labled creamed corn, but was actually baked beans, could light a match within the county for 28 days... hard f^cking times man, BooYaa"

Daewoo

You must live back of the black stump mate, australia is full of wannabees, it has got so bad that most RSL,s are checking up what medals their members are wearing, the exwarrantofficer leading the last anzac day parade in Sydney was outed and procecuted for wearing medals and wings he was not entitled to , the head of queensland Return soldiers league was outed 2 years ago as acomplete fake, supposedly a retired special services officer with medals up the wazoo had never left the bcks at enoggera , while we are talking about aussie and their SAS the same townsville unit who refused to go overseas until they were guaranteed danger money, we have a military website called aarse check out the aussie walt or wannabee section you might be in it lol

[angiud]

Was this really me??

North Italy 1978

[neverdie]

Was this really me??

North Italy 1978

I dunno angiud, was it? That seems to be the whole point of the thread, you could virutally post any pic or claim & claim to be it.

My guess that is you on the movie set of some blockbuster movie. Later you are carried away by 100 vigin supermodels so they can have their evil ways with you. Am I right?

[angiud]

For what I recall was some kind of .50 shooting practice in an ugly swamp, full of mosquito, where the old APC always got stuck in the mud.

I don't remember any virgin (sigh)

[Chunky1]

Why are the Germans so quiet. lol.

[Daewoo]

Why are the Germans so quiet. lol.

and the cheese eating surrender monkeys???

[Daewoo]

You must live back of the black stump mate, australia is full of wannabees, it has got so bad that most RSL,s are checking up what medals their members are wearing, the exwarrantofficer leading the last anzac day parade in Sydney was outed and procecuted for wearing medals and wings he was not entitled to , the head of queensland Return soldiers league was outed 2 years ago as acomplete fake, supposedly a retired special services officer with medals up the wazoo had never left the bcks at enoggera ,

see, they were both in the Aus military... proves my point about it being only for misfits ...

while we are talking about aussie and their SAS the same townsville unit who refused to go overseas until they were guaranteed danger money,

Perfectly reasonable... The gobernment sets certain rates that soldiers get paid... then the Army etc change the name for an 'opperation' so the soldiers are scammed out of what they are entitled to... just so the Army can meet their budget... (p.s. I don't know the actual case you are referring to...

Daewoo

P.S. you won't find me in any wannabe section... although I briefly considered joining the Navy as a electronics engineer... then I realised I wasn't too enthusiastic about bot bot sex, esecially if I was expected to receive...

Daewoo

Telecommunications Techincal Officer (Telstra, retired)