Can anyone explain if this guy I know is pretending to be a LTC?

I was going through Great Lakes Pass & ID and there was a CAPT in the Medical Corps who availed himself of head of line privilege, He politely stepping in front of me. As we waited he told me he was 75 years old, and been retired from the Navy for quite a few years, when they Navy asked him whether he wanted to come back on active duty. He definitely had a current CAC - and looked like he was probably 75. So it does happen, but remember he’d already done 20+ year service.

CW4 William Kessinger - A much older friend of mine was an orthopedic surgeon (he was prior service enlisted) and he was asked if he would re-join the Army as a Lt. Col. My friend replied that he would only come back as a brigadier general, or higher. At that time, my friend was earning over $200k per year.Needless to say, thre was no agreement reached.

Ran into a Colonel flight surgeon in Plattsburgh, NY in 1991. He was backfilling docs that had been forward deployed for Desert Storm. He had a class A uniform on and one of his medals was a WWII victory medal. He was compelled to come back on Active duty and leave an OBGYN practice in Santa Monica, CA. He too, was about 75 at the time.

Maj Dale Smith - When I was thinking of changing to Physician's Assistant in the early 90's, I was told that there was NO forceable retirement in the Medical Corps. You can be recalled at any time and as long as your mental faculties are in tact, you can be recalled at any age. I sat with a two-star at Ft Bliss who must've been in his late 70's to early 80's.

Diane Frazier - When one person sullies the repitation of Armed Forces, they sully the reputation of everyone who served as well, so this isn't one of those "What are you up to?" things. Defending against Stolen Valor is protecting the integrity and reputations of those who served and those still serving. The parallel in the corporate world are the social media policies barring individuals from making disparaging comments about their employer. To parallel the corporate world to a case of Stolen Valor, it's someone claiming to represent a company they've never worked for; something you would call a scam.

does it all really matter. It's not taking anything out of my pocket. Hell, there are people out there claiming to be in direct communication with God. There are people in the House of Representatives claiming to have the best interest of the people in mind. Let it go, not worth it.

1SG Walter Craig - Roger that!

...and chat, lol.

0: LTC Gary Earls] - I too had the same experience. I was on AD 5yrs and ETS'd. I went straight to the Army Reserve. I stayed in USAR and took ROTC a couple years and I requested the Guaranteed Reserve and made a career in the Reserves, went up the ranks but promotions as a MS Officer/Hospital Administrator After making LTC I stayed for a while and retired June 2010.

Extremely unlikely
I was army nurse corps. Many nurses make it to LTC, and very common in reserves. But to join up with a BSN and no military prior service, near ZERO credibility for direct Commission to LTC. Also very weird to state membership in Active Duty 101st Airborne. Ask him when he went to airborne school? If his story included a request for financial assistance, because his pay hasn’t started yet or similar nonsense... BLOCK HIM AND move on immediately. It’s a scam, might not even actually be your friend, May be impersonation fraud.

LTC Gary Earls - But you didn’t direct commission in as a LTC with just a BSN... you went a much longer, steeper road... E1 to O5 is quite a climb. well done!

If he is IRR (Individual Ready Reserve) he very well be assigned to the 101st if called for deployment or training. The IRR folks are attached to Active Duty Units, not Reserve units, and only go active when training or deployed. I know this because I was IRR as a helicopter pilot after leaving active duty and for the first couple of years, I did recurrent training and flight requirements with Active Duty units (Who hated having to use their flight time for me! LOL). It's normal and that may be the case with this LTC.