Military pretender, what would you do?

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-Lucky-

-Lucky-

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May 11, 2010
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Ok, a little back story on me before I get to my question.

I'm a 5th year college senior and in my final year of Air Force ROTC, last fall I applied and was accepted to be a Pilot upon graduation this coming Spring. This semester I'm the Wing Vice Commander of our detachment of 125 cadets.
How AFROTC works for those who don't know is you do PT, drill, and take extra classes every year, and attend Field Training (officer equivalent of basic) one summer typically after your sophomore year. Successfully completing all this and meeting standards will earn you a commission after graduation.

Now to the story/question...

Tonight I was reading a (poorly written) article in the opinion section of our school news written by a former cadet. In it he talks about gender roles, men being men blah blah....Anyways during the article he states this: "It surely was a stepping stone into manhood when I joined the Air Force at 18, even though I never saw combat." The guy that said this was a year above me in the program when I was a freshman, he did 2 years in the program, was an awful cadet, and then quit before ever going to his actual field training. Essentially all he had done is PT and learn to march straight. He has written all over his little blog and crap about how he was going to be a special ops, pilot, engineer (not joking) but some mystery illness made him unable to continue (a lie).

I sent him a message after I read the article and called him out on it and asked him why he was trying to claim he actually served but caveat it with "oh well I never saw combat though". I was promptly blocked :)

I don't consider ROTC serving, I see it like a big job interview, if you make it then you earn the chance to serve upon commissioning; whether that be active duty, guard, or reserves.

So what would you do? Go talk to the editor and say he's lying about military service? Or maybe I'm reading into this too much and should let it slide? Other?

Thanks,

Kevin
 
Nothing. Just keep your eye on your own path.

Taking about what he wanted to do is nothing. If he crosses the line and starts to claim that he actually was something he was not, that's a different matter.
 
Gollnick is right - just let it go. Let the guy live in his little fantasy for now; he'll either get tired of it and move on to something else later, or he'll say or write something where he gets busted and he'll get mauled for it. Sooner or later guys like him always mess up. And you'll become something he can't even measure up to.

Good luck to you. :thumbup:

~Chris
 
Things like this used to fire me up, but there comes a point in life when you realize that things catch up to people, especially when it comes to their mouths. When you look at the amount of phonies around, and the internet superheroes, you realize that they are only believed by like minded fools. So sit back and ponder your own memories, not other folks fabrications. One day his battleship mouth will get his rowboat behind sunk, always does.
 
Tell him to start making sharpened prybars. Tell him the name Strider Knives is taken.
 
There's real wisdom in some of the posts above. I think it's best to let it go. He has his reasons for writing what he did; they may or may not be justifiable and that's really something for him alone. I can completely understand why you would be affronted by it, but I don't think taking it further will do you any good. Welcoming that sort of conflict could also bring you perilously close to an event which could have consequences for your own future and career. One of the most important things I've learned is to pick my battles; some battles I won't win and some are just not worth fighting. I suspect this is the later. The way you win from this is to acknowledge what you know, be happy that you're succeeding and get on with the business of living your life. Something tells me that when you're flying high above all of this with a bunch of lives in your hands you will get a different and unique perspective on this sort of thing.
 
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