I work at a charter school.  Last couple of days I've seen a gentleman with a district ID card (not one of our faculty ones) in the halls. The card would indicate he is a PSR or some such.  He always carries a tan canvas bag with a big red cross on it labeled NAVY SEAL/US NAVY/SEAL TEAM/NAVY MEDIC/SEAL CORPSMAN and the locations Lebanon, Lybia, South America, Panama, Persian Gulf, Bagdad (his spelling), Beirut, etc, etc.  This is all done in red and black sharpie.  I had assumed it was the bag of a SpecEd middle school student he deals with .

Today he shows up with the bag, a notebook covered in NAVY SEALS stickers, and he's wearing a NAVY SEAL T-shirt (not dress code), I realized it's HIS stuff, not the kid's.  I asked him "What's with all the Navy SEAL stuff?", he mumbles, "It's me".  I said, "You were in the Teams?"  He replies, "I just retired from the Navy."  I then asked, "As a SEAL?"  He finally says, "Yeah I was a SEAL in the 80's and 90's."  I commented, "Wow, Navy Special Warfare, huh."  He seemed a bit confused by the NSW comment.

I talked with him for a couple of minutes and got this:

NAME: (I won't post in GD)
DATES OF SERVICE: 1980's and 90's
SERVED WITH: Teams 3 and 5
BUDS CLASS NUMBER: He stammered a bit and came up with 62
AGE: He appears to be mid to late 40's.

I know a couple of West Coast SEALS who served in the late 80's and early 90's, he had never heard of them.  Obviously everything seems off.  I only had the chance to chat with him for a couple of minutes, he avoided me later on when I saw him.  I'm generally a MYOB kind of guy, but Stolen Valor makes me mad.  From the bag I'm sure he'll claim to be a medic, I can bust him easy if that's the case ( a few TC3 type questions ought to do it).  Any advice on how to proceed?  I'm sure there are some sites that can verify him by name as well.


UPDATE: IMed his name and info. to a member here to verify if he served at all.  Sent Don Shipley a message on Facebook and mentioned the hounds of AR15.com had told me to send him the guy's information.  I will play nice the next few days and try to get a phone # and some good poser stories for Mr. Shipley.  Hopefully you guys will have a funny new video to watch soon!

FINAL UPDATE:  Tried contacting Shipley several times, never got a response.  After this post, I talked to the poser the next day and told him a couple of local SEALs I know wanted to take him to lunch.  The "SEAL" stopped bringing his "medic" bag and wearing SEAL shirts after that.  He made a point to avoid me and actually quit three days after our conversation.  Disappointing that we didn't get a Shipley video out of it, but he's no longer spreading his crap around here, so I'm good with the resolution.

IBTL

I doubt many navy seals walk around with a bag like he does

Don Shipley will verify him for you.  Go to his website with the info you have and proceed accordingly.  He has detailed instructions on how to get the dude verified.

the joke is...how do you know someone is a Navy SEAL, just wait he'll tell you...so the real deals and the fakes both brag

there are several online sites try this one http://www.veriseal.org/

Ask him what his swim buddy's name was (it's not classified).

Ask him what WGMATATS means.

Or, just do the easy thing and give "Frog" over at SOCNET his name - he'll be able to check the BUDs rosters.

Class 62 is not mid 80's
 

Class 62 would have been in the early 70's I believe.

I would be surprised if a real deal SEAL would walk around advertising the fact like that.

What's the color of the boathouse at Hereford?

Hit this guy up. He exposes these scum all the time: BUDS 131 http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUxuYuqe-XBFonUGFLETfnA

I thought it seemed a little low
.

Seems to me that most Special Warfare types active and retired are pretty low key.

A lot of truth to that, but the guys in the teams I've worked with have been very low key.  

OP, with that bag the guy sounds a little "special".  I'd personally leave it alone, but that stuff doesn't wind me up to begin with.

How the hell should I know.  ;-)

Sounds like all the ingredients for a poser. Stolen valor however, no, not unless he's getting benifits because of his claims.

Escalating this further is probably not worth your time.

my uncle was BUDS class 61 or 62 iirc

The only people I've met that I _know_ are/were Navy SEALs, never told me. Someone else told me after I'd known them for some time.

You did the math?


In the 80's and you say possibly late 40's?  Lets assume 47, lets assume 87 too.

That means he was 20 years old in the seals?  That's pretty close to the record of 17/18.  Assume he served earlier than 87 or hes younger than 47.... that would make it impossible.

All the SEALs I know were very open about it, same with Rangers, Marines, Pilots etc. The Delta guys and Green Berets seem a little more low key. But I have tremendous respect for all of them and for anyone who signed on the dotted line whether they were a steely-eyed killer or a cook!

The issue is that he's going to be telling tons of impressionable kids at school all about his SEAL adventures.  I know at least one teacher thanked him for his service (he could be a veteran, just not a SEAL).

 

Yep, did the math, problem is his age is hard to guess.  He could be a 55 year old with a decent head of hair...

Takes all kinds, some brag some don't. I don't hate on them for bragging a little, it's a pretty fucking legit accomplishment to be a SEAL.

From the description it is a pretty childish display. I don't see even the most outgoing ex-SEAL putting on such a display.



 

Do exactly this thing. Don is a great guy and will gladly do this, not just for phony SEALs, for any phony special ops types. If possible get pics of him and that gay ass bag he's carrying around, shirts, etc. Don will not only confirm or deny, he will out him and make a you tube vid on it. He only has about 100 on there already. They are hilarious.

odd number teams ore east coast..

Oh yeah, I totally agree...this guy is definitely a poser.

I'm just talking about real SEALs that may brag a little.

My cousin who is a current SEAL you would never know it unless you pried it out of him.  As opposed to my other cousin who is a Marine and well you can draw your own conclusions on how he presents himself.

Most SEALs the ones I have met I did not know till they told me … I do not know if it is a discipline of the mind not to advertise or what but not many go around flaunting it.  One of my co-workers is ex-SEAL and I only know because he has his Eagle and Trident on a display in his office and he never brags.

Tag for result.  Go get 'em OP!

In before Don

With bumper stickers, t-shirts & car magnets?

In my experience the quicker someone is to tell you they're a Marine, the further they are from combat arms.

Was he even a Corpsman?

Ask him where he went to Field Medical Service School?

As p.a. system humms ....

"Paging Don Shipley. Will Mr. Shipley please pick up the phone."

Hey OP, shoot me a PM with his info and I can check to see if he ever served at all in the military.

Yeah, contact Don Shipley.  The YouTube result will be epic.  First clue was "Navy Medic".  That's where I would have shredded him with all kinds of A-School questions.  Medic....

If that bag of his is full of hair products, he may be legit.

No. Odd = PACFLT/MIDEAST. Even = LANTFLT/Med

Tattoos …. He is Force Recon, been through sniper school and as gung-ho as they come.

Honestly, People that do this have mental issues.  I know it burns some dudes up, but I dont really give a fuck.  I was just a dumb ass 03, and even I could call these dudes on their BS.  Id rather listen to the stories and get a laugh outa it and let everyone know when they leave he is full of shit.  They are like the .Mil version of the gunshop tales guy.  I worked with 2 of these types last year.  Everyone knew the FOS and made fun of them behind their back.  That's the best revenge I can think of.

SO FUCKING TRUE

As previously mentioned, "Don Shipley" your co-worker.

YouTube hilarity will ensue...!!!


http://www.youtube.com/user/Buds131/videos

I just laughed at the Navy Seal stuff. That's awesome.