New FAQ Input Holding Area
Q: I see the term “Blue Falcon” used here from time to time. What do you mean by a “Blue Falcon”?
A: This question may occur to infrequent or new civilian visitors. The term “Blue Falcon” is the euphemistic version of a somewhat earthier derisive military term for a “backstabber”.
A semi-polite version of that military term would be “buddy fornicator”. The version commonly used in the military isn’t anywhere close to being that polite, but I don’t really think I need to spell things out further.
What are we talking about? Here’s an example. Think of the senior NCO in a military unit. Now, suppose that NCO sees a Soldier/Sailor/Airman/Marine from another unit do something that’s out-of-line, corrects them – and gets ignored.
A professional NCO would then take the matter to their professional peer at the miscreant’s unit and request they “square away” their miscreant troop. This would keep the matter at the appropriate level (the unit level), and would also keep it within NCO channels (where such matters generally belong). That’s simply professional courtesy and using the chain-of-command/NCO support chain properly.
In contrast, a true “Blue Falcon” wouldn’t do that. They’d jump 3 or 4 levels of command and take the matter directly to a GO or equivalent civilian executive. Or maybe they’d complain directly to the senior NCO of their service (SMA, CMSAF, MCPON, or SGTMAJMC) instead. That way, they might be able to screw over a whole bunch of their professional peers – and maybe even a number of people senior to themselves – at once, by proxy.
Of course, this latter type of unprofessional behavior could never happen in today’s highly professional military, right? And if someone did pull such an unprofessional stunt they’d certainly not be publicly rewarded for doing so, right?
Curiously enough, there’s actually a second possibly valid definition of the term “Blue Falcon”. The US Air Force Academy’s athletic mascot is the falcon; their colors are blue and white. Here’s one version of their athletic logo, used from 1963-1994:
Q: What is this, some kind of “military male drum circle” with “no girls allowed”?
A: Umm, no. The site doesn’t keep detailed statistics; commenters are not asked to provide information concerning their gender. And yes, the best I can tell from what’s posted the majority of commenters at TAH do appear to be male.
One would expect that, actually; the military is around 80% male. However, there are indeed a fair number of female regular commenters here at TAH.
FWIW: I wouldn’t recommend getting on those ladies’ bad side. Well, I wouldn’t unless you are a masochist and enjoy being verbally savaged. Then you might enjoy the experience. (smile)
Q: I love what you do here! How can I help?
A: There are two ways you can help if so inclined.
(a) If you suspect you know of a case of stolen valor that should be exposed, send as much information about the individual making questionable claims as you can get to the site owner. His contact information can be found under the “Contact Us” tab on the site banner.
Verifying an individual’s actual military service involves filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for information from their official military personnel records archived by the Federal government. The process of filing a FOIA request is covered in detail here. To file one, the following information is needed:
- Full name (first/middle/last) of the individual in question at the time the individual served.
- Their date and place (city/state) of birth, OR their SSN.
- Approximate dates of service (a multi-year range such as “1990-1996” or even “late 1990s” is generally close enough).
- Branch of service (Army/Navy/USAF/USMC/National Guard).
- Any other information regarding the individual’s military claims that is readily available.
(b) If you’d like to support the site financially, you can donate $$$ using the “Donate” button just below the site banner. Or you can mail the site owner a check or cash (postal info is at the “Contact Us” tab on the site banner). Contrary to rumor, Jonn does not spend all the donations on rum and cigars. (smile)
Category: Politics
