SnapLock Posted June 4, 2016 Share Posted June 4, 2016 17 hours ago, Adam P said: Dudes, apparently I pissed a bunch of you guys off and that's my bad. My buddy Sparky told me this morning and he defend me as a stand-up guy so I'll take what I deserve. I didn't serve in the selfie age, I didn't own a camera till I got married and I wasn't married while I was on active duty. The pics of me in uniform are few. This pic was taken while I was flying some missions in the back of either a C-17 or C-130 with a buddy of mine who happened to be a laodmaster and was able to get me on a few rides. That's his helmet, he snapped some pics, we were doing some training airdrops and I was pumped to tag along. I do believe that patch was swapped with someone from the flight deck but I can't remember but I do remember I had another sweet morale patch on the other side as well. My eye sight is 20/400, so no, I never had the opportunity to go through or washout of UPT. We used those pics because they were some of the few I could find. I don't believe anything claims I'm a fighter pilot though I would have liked to have been one if PRK or Lasik was accepted back then. I do believe I have a few pics from survival as well in BDUs but in fear of someone accusing me of trying to be a SEAL or Ranger, I'll refrain. Instead I was self-loading baggage who got to fly in the back, perhaps supporting some of you and coordinate SEAD missions, since airborne EW was my specialty. I appreciate all the dedication to keeping me in check...and if you ever think about running for office, my advice would be not to. Oklahoma has a $1.5 billion budget deficit which we're trying to sort through and I'm having to defend a picture I took 10 years ago with a flight helmet. Hope this clears it up so Duck can get back to his crown and cokes. Good on you for coming on here to explain. Even though you're showing some cynicism and sarcasm I commend you for explaining. I've seen multiple dudes in my career misrepresent their service and it pissed me and a lot of others off. Hence my criticism. Thanks for serving, but I caution you against overusing your service (calling yourself "captain" on your website) and looking like you are misrepresenting yourself. When you run for office you open yourself and your family up to scrutiny. If you can't take that then I recommend doing something else. I get it that you want to show pictures of yourself in uniform. Cool, but I would recommend making sure they are accurate. If none of them are accurate then take them down. Maybe this could be a blessing in disguise for you? Wouldn't you rather have this criticism like it is now rather than from an opponent at a debate or worse? It would suck to have to explain your service like this in front of a crowd of voters. Trust me, it wouldn't go over so well. I wish you the best of luck on your campaign. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 Dudes, apparently I pissed a bunch of you guys off and that's my bad. My buddy Sparky told me this morning and he defend me as a stand-up guy so I'll take what I deserve. I didn't serve in the selfie age, I didn't own a camera till I got married and I wasn't married while I was on active duty. The pics of me in uniform are few. This pic was taken while I was flying some missions in the back of either a C-17 or C-130 with a buddy of mine who happened to be a laodmaster and was able to get me on a few rides. That's his helmet, he snapped some pics, we were doing some training airdrops and I was pumped to tag along. I do believe that patch was swapped with someone from the flight deck but I can't remember but I do remember I had another sweet morale patch on the other side as well. My eye sight is 20/400, so no, I never had the opportunity to go through or washout of UPT. We used those pics because they were some of the few I could find. I don't believe anything claims I'm a fighter pilot though I would have liked to have been one if PRK or Lasik was accepted back then. I do believe I have a few pics from survival as well in BDUs but in fear of someone accusing me of trying to be a SEAL or Ranger, I'll refrain. Instead I was self-loading baggage who got to fly in the back, perhaps supporting some of you and coordinate SEAD missions, since airborne EW was my specialty. I appreciate all the dedication to keeping me in check...and if you ever think about running for office, my advice would be not to. Oklahoma has a $1.5 billion budget deficit which we're trying to sort through and I'm having to defend a picture I took 10 years ago with a flight helmet. Hope this clears it up so Duck can get back to his crown and cokes. I don't know which is worse: that you don't know whether your buddy was a 17 or 130 load, or you don't know which airframe you were flying on I've had the pleasure of riding in the back of the 130, C-5, C-17, KC-10, KC-135, and (gasp) your precious AWACS and could never confuse one for the other. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guineapigfury Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 Wasn't this thread started as a possible "stolen valor" case? Since we've figured out that this dude is an actual veteran, exactly what the fuck are we going on about at this point. Are we quibbling over this dudes choice of patches in 10 year old photos as somehow deceptive? Really? I have a picture of me rocking a ThunderCats T-Shirt in my flightsuit as a 2Lt. I guess I better not run for office or I'll get called out as an imposter from Third Earth or Thundera. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duck Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 Agreed. Time to delete the thread. Glad to have you running. Hope you can bring some sanity to government.! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeremiahWeed Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 (edited) On 6/3/2016 at 11:22 PM, Adam P said: Dudes, apparently I pissed a bunch of you guys off and that's my bad. My buddy Sparky told me this morning and he defend me as a stand-up guy so I'll take what I deserve. I didn't serve in the selfie age, I didn't own a camera till I got married and I wasn't married while I was on active duty. The pics of me in uniform are few. This pic was taken while I was flying some missions in the back of either a C-17 or C-130 with a buddy of mine who happened to be a laodmaster and was able to get me on a few rides. That's his helmet, he snapped some pics, we were doing some training airdrops and I was pumped to tag along. I do believe that patch was swapped with someone from the flight deck but I can't remember but I do remember I had another sweet morale patch on the other side as well. My eye sight is 20/400, so no, I never had the opportunity to go through or washout of UPT. We used those pics because they were some of the few I could find. I don't believe anything claims I'm a fighter pilot though I would have liked to have been one if PRK or Lasik was accepted back then. I do believe I have a few pics from survival as well in BDUs but in fear of someone accusing me of trying to be a SEAL or Ranger, I'll refrain. Instead I was self-loading baggage who got to fly in the back, perhaps supporting some of you and coordinate SEAD missions, since airborne EW was my specialty. I appreciate all the dedication to keeping me in check...and if you ever think about running for office, my advice would be not to. Oklahoma has a $1.5 billion budget deficit which we're trying to sort through and I'm having to defend a picture I took 10 years ago with a flight helmet. Hope this clears it up so Duck can get back to his crown and cokes. Adam, Your military service is something you can be proud of and is far more than many Americans have been willing to offer. However, be straight about it and don’t try to turn it into something it isn’t. I think that might be what’s bugging a few of us as we look at your web site and consider what you posted here. No one likes feeling like they’re being given a line of BS, even if they can’t prove it for certain. You’re also using certain pictures, words and inferences to create an image that’s not completely accurate. You can’t remember what kind of airplane you were on? Really? Is that because you watched airdrops on a C-17 and others on a C-130 because your bud was dual qualified, you did so many they all ran together or you simply can’t tell the difference? Airdrops with the back door open, pallets or maybe troops going out, airplanes on the ramp, generally cool military ops and hardware and you go find a meadow with a rock to sit on for your photo? Can you see why this explanation is a little hard to buy? When we called you on it, you went down the “it was so long ago, I can’t remember all the details” path. At least you’ve got that part of politics figured out. Oh, and the “I’m too busy with the budget deficit to defend the picture I CHOSE to put on my website”. Nice try…Don’t you need to get elected first before you can “sort through the budget deficit”? Right now, you’re trying to get elected – and like it or not, you’re getting some blow back from your website. Speaking of that, here’s some feedback on the web site: You’re not a “Captain” any more. It appears a bit desperate. You separated. If you retired and you really felt like it was important, you could refer to yourself with your former rank and put a USAF (ret.) after it. But…. You didn’t. Lose the wings on your lapel. Those are about as subtle as a Rolls owner wearing his hood ornament on a necklace. There’s a reason you couldn’t find a little, classy set of ABM wings to use as a tie tack or lapel pin and had to use the ones from your mess dress. No one is going to mass produce ABM wing pins because no one wears them. But, wings = pilot and if no one looks close enough or understands what they’re looking at, why spoil the image with those pesky details. Same thing with the flight suit/helmet shot. Flight suit + helmet equals another image you’re trying to imply that’s not reality. You wore a flight suit on duty. If a picture of you in that uniform gets you a little mileage with the voting public, great. Add in the helmet (which you never wore on duty) and you’re flirting with creating a false image, hoping the general public will take it on face value. The fact that you didn’t own a camera or get any accurate pictures of yourself during your military service doesn’t make it okay to post one that clearly attempts to imply duties you didn’t have. Edited June 5, 2016 by JeremiahWeed 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pawnman Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 10 hours ago, guineapigfury said: Wasn't this thread started as a possible "stolen valor" case? Since we've figured out that this dude is an actual veteran, exactly what the fuck are we going on about at this point. Are we quibbling over this dudes choice of patches in 10 year old photos as somehow deceptive? Really? I have a picture of me rocking a ThunderCats T-Shirt in my flightsuit as a 2Lt. I guess I better not run for office or I'll get called out as an imposter from Third Earth or Thundera. I believe that's exactly what is happening. I stand by my statement that this is a contributing factor for why there are so few veterans in congress...would any of you want to explain your entire career, only to have other veterans nit-pick every ribbon, medal, and patch? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discus Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 This needs to be ended. At least he isn't some screaming liberal douche nozzle who has never served and hates all things military. Constructive feedback has been given. He can take it or leave it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 6 hours ago, JeremiahWeed said: You’re not a “Captain” any more. It appears a bit desperate. You separated. If you retired and you really felt like it was important, you could refer to yourself with your former rank and put a USAF (ret.) after it. But…. You didn’t. This. The title you're looking for is "Veteran," or maybe "Former Air Force Captain." Also, you're running for political office in a district that's right down the road from Tinker AFB, an area where there are a whole bunch of military veterans, retirees, and civil servants. I gotta think that all of these potential voters are going to have the same kind of questions and critiques that are in this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RTB Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 Damn, rough thread. We bitch all the time about a lack of veterans running for office and when a guy finally does, he gets vilified over some pics he took years ago and used on his campaign website? Rough. From what he said, it sounds like he didn't stage those pics for his campaign, they were taken while he was on AD. Give the dude a break. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HerkFE Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 7 hours ago, JeremiahWeed said: Adam, Your military service is something you can be proud of and is far more than many Americans have been willing to offer. However, be straight about it and don’t try to turn it into something it isn’t. I think that might be what’s bugging a few of us as we look at your web site and consider what you posted here. No one likes feeling like they’re being given a line of BS, even if they can’t prove it for certain. You’re also using certain pictures, words and inferences to create an image that’s not completely accurate. You can’t remember what kind of airplane you were on? Really? Is that because you watched airdrops on a C-17 and others on a C-130 because your bud was dual qualified, you did so many they all ran together or you simply can’t tell the difference? Airdrops with the back door open, pallets or maybe troops going out, airplanes on the ramp, generally cool military ops and hardware and you go find a meadow with a rock to sit on for your photo? Can you see why this explanation is a little hard to buy? When we called you on it, you went down the “it was so long ago, I can’t remember all the details” path. At least you’ve got that part of politics figured out. Oh, and the “I’m too busy with the budget deficit to defend the picture I CHOSE to put on my website”. Nice try…Don’t you need to get elected first before you can “sort through the budget deficit”? Right now, you’re trying to get elected – and like it or not, you’re getting some blow back from your website. Speaking of that, here’s some feedback on the web site: You’re not a “Captain” any more. It appears a bit desperate. You separated. If you retired and you really felt like it was important, you could refer to yourself with your former rank and put a USAF (ret.) after it. But…. You didn’t. Lose the wings on your lapel. Those are about as subtle as a Rolls owner wearing his hood ornament on a necklace. There’s a reason you couldn’t find a little, classy set of ABM wings to use as a tie tack or lapel pin and had to use the ones from your mess dress. No one is going to mass produce ABM wing pins because no one wears them. But, wings = pilot and if no one looks close enough or understands what they’re looking at, why spoil the image with those pesky details. Same thing with the flight suit/helmet shot. Flight suit + helmet equals another image you’re trying to imply that’s not reality. You wore a flight suit on duty. If a picture of you in that uniform gets you a little mileage with the voting public, great. Add in the helmet (which you never wore on duty) and you’re flirting with creating a false image, hoping the general public will take it on face value. The fact that you didn’t own a camera or get any accurate pictures of yourself during your military service doesn’t make it okay to post one that clearly attempts to imply duties you didn’t have. ^^This Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkdiggety Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 (edited) 54 minutes ago, RTB said: Damn, rough thread. We bitch all the time about a lack of veterans running for office and when a guy finally does, he gets vilified over some pics he took years ago and used on his campaign website? Rough. From what he said, it sounds like he didn't stage those pics for his campaign, they were taken while he was on AD. Give the dude a break. Nice to see some folks don't let their own inflated ego get in the way of common sense. You're absolutely right. Edited June 5, 2016 by sparkdiggety Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pawnman Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 1 hour ago, RTB said: Damn, rough thread. We bitch all the time about a lack of veterans running for office and when a guy finally does, he gets vilified over some pics he took years ago and used on his campaign website? Rough. From what he said, it sounds like he didn't stage those pics for his campaign, they were taken while he was on AD. Give the dude a break. Bingo. We wonder why we can't get any veterans elected when the veteran community itself is willing to dig into every facet of someone's service and call out anything they see as a discrepancy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARAMP1 Posted June 5, 2016 Share Posted June 5, 2016 Complains today's leaders are more focused on the little things than the mission... Bitches about a guy in unauthorized patches. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEflyer Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 Dear lord... I'm a rescue 60 pilot and the picture I have of myself in the "about us" section of my businesses website, is of me sitting jump in a 130 on a fam flight... Now I'm beginning to wonder if I've actually been scaring people off because they think I'm a nav. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M2 Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 On 6/4/2016 at 9:33 PM, Duck said: Agreed. Time to delete the thread. Glad to have you running. Hope you can bring some sanity to government.! Agreed, but there's no need to delete the thread. However, there is one to end it, which is what I am doing... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts