Phony General? (now with added Phony Goodness)

Someone sent me this picture of a fellow he sees frequently around a local ROTC detachment. Our tipster says he believes the guy served in some capacity in the military but doubts his claims that he did 3 tours at SOCOM or that he’s a Major General.

Me? I’m just enjoying the military goodness of the pictures;

Like you are, I wondered what the glob of patches on his right shoulder are so I blew the picture up a bit;

For those of you who might not know, the patch on your right shoulder is supposed to be one of the units that you served in during combat. He’s added a Ranger tab and a Special Forces tab – which is completely unauthorized. Anyone who has ever worn the stuff for real knows which shoulder it goes on.

Here’s what he’s wearing over his left breast;

Yeah, the Combat Infantry Badge is a “Group 1” badge which means it goes over the Aviator Wings, a “Group 3” badge. It’s right in the AR 670-1 as an example;

Again, anyone who ever was awarded the CIB knows why it goes above everything else. It’s an exclusive club – one to which the three bloggers here all belong and we get reallly mad at people who wear them and haven’t earned them – ask Geof Millard. I don’t know where every single medal goes, but I know how to wear my own uniform.

I know that a general wearing a Good Conduct Medal is rare – he could have some enlisted time (officers don’t get the GCM because officers are supposed to be good all of the time without a medal) but that’s a long way to travel from three years of enlisted time (a GCM is awarded for three years of not stepping on your junk) to a two-star general. I also noticed that his Distinguished Flying Cross is placed higher than his Silver Star and his Legion of Merit is supposed to be higher than his Bronze Star.

You guys can pick over the medals in the comments if you want. Here’s a link to a .pdf Army Regulations 670-1 Wear and Appearance. And here’s a link to medals. Knock yourself out. I noticed a few other discrepancies – but I’m going blind look at all of this guy’s stuff.

I remember when I taught ROTC at the University of Vermont in the late 80s, uncles and parents would show up in a lot of weird shit at graduation but this guy takes the cake.

I forgot to ask; Is that a really flat beret on his head?

Added: Our tipster sent along a picture of the general’s left side – I’m glad he balanced out the long tab and short tab on both sleeves;

Is that crooked-ass tie part of a general’s uniform, too?

Expect updated posts on this fellow.

Category: Phony soldiers