EL PASO --- In a culture enamored of superheroes and the glory of war, people unhappy with their status in life increasingly are falsifying claims of military service.
Watchdogs say they cannot keep up with reports of phonies wearing combat medals they did not earn and uniforms implying dangerous duties they did not perform.
"Sometimes I'm getting 20 to 50 inquiries a day," said Steve Robinson, a former Navy SEAL who works to expose false claims of membership to that elite group of rigorously trained sailors.
Nearly all of the inquiries alert him to impostors.
In January 2002, four months after terrorists attacked the United States, a group called AuthentiSEALs received 1,182 reports of people claiming to be SEALs, Robinson said. "Three of them were real SEALs," he said.
AuthentiSEALs disbanded in 2005 as reports flowed in and exhausted volunteers dropped out, Robinson said. He is the last of eight original group members who checked out such claims.
Robinson estimates there are at least 300 impostors for every real Navy SEAL, and he believes the numbers are growing.
"They are more and more outrageous," Robinson said. "There are people who want a piece of that respect, and they want it Wal-Mart cheap and McDonald's quick."
More from Military.com HERE.
Watchdogs say they cannot keep up with reports of phonies wearing combat medals they did not earn and uniforms implying dangerous duties they did not perform.
"Sometimes I'm getting 20 to 50 inquiries a day," said Steve Robinson, a former Navy SEAL who works to expose false claims of membership to that elite group of rigorously trained sailors.
Nearly all of the inquiries alert him to impostors.
In January 2002, four months after terrorists attacked the United States, a group called AuthentiSEALs received 1,182 reports of people claiming to be SEALs, Robinson said. "Three of them were real SEALs," he said.
AuthentiSEALs disbanded in 2005 as reports flowed in and exhausted volunteers dropped out, Robinson said. He is the last of eight original group members who checked out such claims.
Robinson estimates there are at least 300 impostors for every real Navy SEAL, and he believes the numbers are growing.
"They are more and more outrageous," Robinson said. "There are people who want a piece of that respect, and they want it Wal-Mart cheap and McDonald's quick."
More from Military.com HERE.
11 comments:
it is a felony to wear a combat medal you did not earn. Anyone caught doing so whould be tarnished and feathered!
pathetic bunch of wannbes! can't hack it so they try to embillish their pathetic little lives!
What do we expect in a fantasy world where you can go on my space and be anyone or anything you want to be? Two thirds of the country live in la-la land.
I think its a disgrace to all the men and woman who have served and died for our freedoms. Two years work release and 1000 community service hours at Walter Reed or some other military hospital.
yeah, check the white house.
If the president doesn't need proper credentials , then I guess nobody does.
Unless you have spent eighty days without showering, worrying about how long the current case of MREs and bottled mineral water from the Emirates will last, and still decisively bring to a conclusion every skirmish or firefight in which you are engaged, you cannot realize what it is like to be there.
Male friends always invariably ask me what it is like to kill someone, whether they have known me for months or years. I believe it is because of video games and movies, that allow viewers to engage in guilt-free slaughter. Lt.Col. Dave Grossman's book, "On Killing", is my suggested reading on the psychology of the military on engaging targets and the lasting psychological effects.
Everyone wants to be a hero, but nobody would want to pay the daily, and nightly, price that comes with it. I would not give up my military career for anything, but be d@mned if someone thinks that they can verbally mimic all of the experiences I have had and think that it makes them a "hero."
I agree with 9:31, escapism is present throughout our current culture.
And Mr.Wilkerson, I believe you are letting them off too lightly.
Well said, Doc.
HMCM
Doc your probably right about that. Thank you for keeping my family and our country safe, and stay safe.
Hoohrah!
The imposters should have tattooed on their foreheads in 3 inch letters: WANNABE.
glad to see that we hav imposters -_- makes me feel super safe now
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