Rick Fine; the sniper/CIA/sergeant major phony

AverageNCO bumped into this Rick Fine guy at an event that he was attending. Here, I’ll let AverageNCO tell the story;

While at dinner he went on-and-on about his days in the Army. He would never give an exact date that he enlisted, but said he was trained as an Airborne Sniper, and his first mission was to oust Noriega in Panama. Because of how well he did in Panama he was transferred to work for the CIA. Throughout the next two days he told great stories to me and other about all the people he had killed. How he was trained in “Terminal Interrogation” tactics with the CIA……and it went on. Even my wife’s stolen valor radar was going wild after sitting next to this guy for less than five minutes. Here are some more highlights from his stories:

1. He wore a Command Sergeant Major rank insignia on both his cap and as a tie clip. Claims he earned a stripe after every secret mission he went on for the CIA. He said he finally had “kill a few more guys” before they gave him his E9 star.

2. I asked him why he would be a “Command” Sgt. Major since he said he was assigned to a small black ops unit of the CIA, since CSM’s are by definition assigned at a Headquarters level unit? He looked at me dumbfounded, and said it was “different when you work for Central Intelligence.”

3. Since my wife and I had been using DOD lodging along our road trip, she slyly asked him if he enjoyed staying in the VIP units since he was a retired E9. He stated he had no access to retiree benefits because all his records were destroyed to conceal the work he did for the CIA.

4. He stated he has multiple medical problems due to Gulf War Syndrome, but can’t get VA benefits because his records were destroyed.

5. He was wearing a ranger pin. I asked if was “tabbed or scrolled”, and he obviously had NO IDEA what I was talking about.

6. He did know that Army Sniper school was at Ft. Benning, but when I asked him how long the school was…he couldn’t remember.

So he sounds totally legit, right? So, AverageNCO got Rick’s FOIA and it came back like this;

He asked Rick about that and Rick told him he had a DD214 and read stuff off of it to him on the phone. AverageNCO asked him to send a copy of it to him and he got it, but it was barely legible, well, except this corner which says the date of the form is 1958;

Fine told AverageNCO that he had another more legible copy of his DD214, so we’ve been holding our breath for nearly a month waiting for it and it never showed up. So I’m taking deep breaths while I write this one up. Here’s what he wears to formal events;

I love how everything about his career was secret, except for when he’s running his mouth at the dinner table in front of strangers he met just a few moments before. But, he’s persistent. He hasn’t crumbled even a little bit on his story, despite the fact that AverageNCO picked it apart piece-by-piece.

Category: Phony soldiers