In a just world, mommy & daddy would be visiting his ass in prison.
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Trump glommed onto it because it sounds tough & he-manly. He thinks of the world & the military in “First Blood” and “ Red Dawn” terms (with himself cast as the hero).
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I’m pretty sure it was the faking bone spurs merit badge.
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Funny I don’t remember golf carts in any of those action movies, but I think there was one in Die Hard 2?
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It’s beyond repugnant that this war criminal would even make the request for the thing in the first place. He has no morals, what with being a war criminal. And he has no sense of shame, either.
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Who merits which award or service distinction is a big, big deal in the military. The whole uproar about “stolen valor” was about disgraceful wannabes and grifters posing as special forces vets or even brazenly wearing medals of honor (stupidly not realizing it’s very easy to check who actually received one).
Good on General Beaudette, not only for its own sake, but because it probably doesn’t help his career to be seen bucking Trump.
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It’s not just him. The other day some brass moron couldn’t avoid the phrase “the field of battle.”
Trump is a fraud, and all his cronies are frauds. They require a constant supply of stolen virtue as a kind of “hall pass” to be allowed in civilized company.
They give USMIL a tongue-bath regularly so they can bask in the reflected glory.
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OK call me a moron. I had no idea this was a verboten phrase. How/When did this happen?
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Extremely honorable. Unfortunately he will probably be Lt. Gen. Francis M. Beaudette (Retired) real soon.
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I’m tangentially affiliated with the glorious military-industrial complex. It’s popular in everybody’s marketingspeak because it suggests the organization (or your product) is lean and mean, not bloated with a long logistical tail. The “warfighter” is the guy or gal on the tip of the spear who actually justifies the existence of the service in the first place. “Service member” can mean the enlisted goon who’s driving the truck around carrying replacement parts and another tank of gas, and nobody wants to suggest they need those. If you’re directly serving the warfighter, blah blah agile et cetera.
The dotard knows nothing of any of this, of course. Your argument for why he uses the term is spot-on.
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Just say “battlefield” like a human. It’s not forbidden, but it’s extra syllables == extra work == the speaker wanted to describe a Field, in which Heroic Battle is Waged by Patriotic Warfighters, because the speaker wants to fantasize about how fucking great it is and they want to encourage you to do the same. These are not the words chosen by someone who considers war an option of last resort, a failure of policy & diplomacy & humanity.
If all you need to do is convey that American soldiers need X in the field to help them fight, you say that. You don’t fish around for purple prose. Guy might as well have put his hand in his pants and started stroking off to G.I. Joe.
I don’t begrudge people their fetishes, but it has no place in national security or public dialog about the justification for war. In that context, it strains credulity to suggest it’s for a reason other than that the speaker is eager for a fun imperial adventure.
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Exactly what IS a “Special Forces Tab”? The privilege of running a bar bill in the Officers’ Louge? A monogrammed pad of paoer? Some kind of performance-enhancing drug that lets 'em do what they do? Clearly, it’s some big deal - but what??
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It is the device worn on the uniform that signifies the wearer is (for lack of the technical terms) trained and certified as a member of the US special forces. Literally a tab on the shoulder.
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Thanks! So it’s analogous to the troop id that Boy Scouts sew on their uniforms. I can see why Beaudette wouldn’t want to allow this disgraced guy to claim that credential any more.
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Sort of but not quite. It’s worn for the rest of the career, not just if you’re currently affiliated with a SF organization. So you earn it and never lose it (unless you’re a fuckup embarrassment like this guy–it is a privilege that can be revoked).
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Like the Seal Team Trident? Would one wear both?
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I think it’s accurate to say they’re functionally identical for our purposes, just different services.
I don’t think it’s possible outside of extremely contrived circumstances for one human to earn both (you might need to quit one service and join another). I doubt the uniform regs would allow an Army soldier to wear the Navy device in any case.
(caveat that I’ve never served and I welcome correction by an expert)
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Is a Special Forces tab what you open at the Special Forces bar? So, no more free drinks?
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Warfighter could include mercenaries, who aren’t really service members. I guess some service members feel more like mercs when that old UCMJ raises its ugly head. Lucky for them Cadet Bone Spurs can make that military justice disappear.
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I commend and honor you, Lt. Gen. Francis M. Beaudette.
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