Have you seen military posers in person?

This guy would not even be allowed to speak to the mess

Yes, saw my 1st one in a Barnes and Nobles at the magazine stand wearing his ACU's. He wasn't just wearing his preferred comfy clothing as he had his nametape, US ARMY tape, and rank on his blouse and PC. I don't believe there are any bases nearby. Indoors, he had his cover on and black boots. Out of curiosity, I inquired with the LP agent about the individual and was advised he was a regular but harmless and since it didn't appear that he tried to use his uniform for monetary gain, I let it go but did explain that he was not a real SM in case he ever tried to pass himself off as one in the future.

No I haven't. Seen some people I was unsure of but not in a situation to confirm. I did have a short conversation with a guy who said he had been in Vietnam but when I asked what unit, he could not remember.

I see this shit all of the time. I'm a retired 1stSgt and I challenge these assholes. What unit were you in? When did you go in? What was you MOS? Who was the Commandant when you were in? Etc....
When they fail to answer any of the above questions, I tell them they have 1 second to get the fuck out of my face. They usually get going and I sometimes yell at them to stop faking being in the military!

I retired after 20 years in uniform and I don't care what these wannabes wear so long as they don't try to turn a profit off of others blood.

You can learn to spot fakers and posers from a mile away, often as soon as they speak, sometimes just by the way they look. Trick is, a great many "posers" actually have served in some capacity in the military, some have deployed, still more chaptered out for "failure to adapt" or drugs. These.......are the new generation of "Stolen Valor" , they may know enough "lingo" to get by and may have been to a duty station, so they can rattle off street names or parts of post that only someone who was there would know.......to paraphrase Kyle Reese from The Terminator "The early ones, we spotted them easy......these new ones, are hard to pick up...you have to wait until they move on you to spot them"

Unless they are mentally ill, you won't hear a veteran in "mixed company" talk about "kills", shooting people, etc. Also the "try hards" are usually a dead giveaway, the guys who try too hard to let people know they're a Combat Vet. I've had many as coworkers. Again though, most of these new gen imposters are mentally ill.

In short, don't be a Vet Flake, unless someone is profiting from Stolen Valor, or they are impersonating a MOH holder or are just WAY over the top....there's not much you can do....people are allowed to wear ACU's.......if you know they're lying then let them know you busted them out and walk away. Also make sure it's not a real combat vet with a TBI or severe PTSD or you're gonna make a huge fool of yourself.

Had a co worker who for years claimed to have served with the 82nd in the panama invasion, he was never able to come up with a 214 but still had the guts to claim a spot in the veterans plaque that my employer installed on a conference room wall. I called his bluff to the HRM manager and provided evidence that showed him getting kicked out of basic after two weeks for not reporting that he was a chronic asmatic, he still had the balls to deny the facts claiming that I fabricated the evidence in order to harm his career. Luckily the HRM manager was Army retired and was able to verify the truth. These people are sick wannabees that will go to great lengths in order to get attention, the saddest part is that most of them are non hackers claiming to walk the walk.

I found one in my hometown just a few weeks ago claiming to be O7 Brigadier General, he showed me his ribbons rack on his Charlie shirt, pretty impressive until I noticed the Navy Cross sitting right on top. Along with a few Army medals, and of course a purple heart, because you know every poser was wounded somehow. What really struck me as weird, was I noticed there isn't one single star, or oak leaf on any one of those ribbons. Here's the kicker, pretty much every stereotypical poser has said this, he worked with SEAL Team 6 of course. His name is Andy Reeves if y'all want to look him up. He has a few profiles but you'll eventually find it.

My wife and I were in new Orleans and we saw 3 kids, probably early 20's holding a sign that read "Vietnam, vets, please help".

Me and two guys I know to be Vets were out fishing at a Pier. Forget what we were talking about but a guy standing near us saw out caps and mentioned that he was a Vet too. No big deal until one of the guys ask him his MOS. Seems that it was so long ago that he forgot it. I had 3 and never forgot a one of them. Then another ask him his serial number. Again, so long ago that he could not remember. Now I will be honest, I had a hard time remembering my serial number, but the third time through the gas chamber and I never forgot it again. I ask if he was RA or US. He said he was American Army. For the new guys, RA had enlisted and US was a draftee. And that went in front of your serial number. We had to laugh at him and ride his ass until he left. If he had just said he had been in the Army and stationed in the states or Germany we would have thought nothing of it. Heck, my first 16 months I was stationed in Germany.