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Walts, posers & wannabes (merged)

Two Walt stories and a question here. Both of these stories were told to me directly from the very imaginative Walts who had "been there" on two separate occasions.

Here is one from a couple of years ago while walking through a cargo terminal that was undergoing some construction. During the construction, there was a requirement to have a Commissionaire to keep watch of the building. One of the troops gestured me to come over and meet a real hardcore vet. Once I made my way over, I was introduced to this Commissionaire who was standing there proud as a peacock due to the attention he was receiving. One of my subordinates who was genuinely impressed by this guy was nudging him and encouraging him to tell me the story of his Bullet. Out of his shirt he pulled a 5.56mm bullet (in pristine condition) on an ID disc chain and told me that while he was in the infantry and deployed to the Middle East (to an undisclosed location none the less) many years ago he and his team came under fire by "the enemy". This bullet allegedly struck his body armour and was stopped by his ballistic plates.

A number of questions came to mind after his ridiculous claims. Why was he shot with a standard NATO 5.56mm round, were his own people turning on him? What make of rifle that fires 5.56mm is smooth bore (no land or groove markings at all on the bullet)? How does a bullet strike a ballistic plate and remain in pristine condition? And what novelty store did that trinket come from? I couldn't even let him finish his story before I just walked away. I later explained to the overly impressed Private all of the inconsistencies in the story and the complete improbability that this guy had ever served in the Infantry let alone overseas.

Story two was around the same timeframe as the first one but involved a different Commissionaire who worked along side the one from the first story. His was told after a few drinks at a social outing. Once this guy became tipsy enough, he started telling this story that was all over the place. First he was trying to get into the CF but had some medical issues that were slowing the process down, then in the same sentence he started on about being a paratrooper. Lacking some popcorn, I grabbed a beer from the cooler and sat down for some entertainment. I asked him why he would be getting in as a recruit if he had already served as a paratrooper? The answer was simple, he was a paratrooper and sniper who had been tasked on Black Ops somewhere overseas where he had over 200 confirmed kills. He was so effective and so secret that the military destroyed any record of him serving which is why he had to start off as a basic recruit.

As he spoke about his hundreds of jumps (and some combat jumps too), countries he deployed to and hundreds of people he killed (the number of which increased every time he mentioned it), I asked him about his medals. Surely a soldier of this stature who had been deployed on countless operations and seen so much combat would at least have one or two medals. Well, he had something like 8 medals awarded to him, some directly from Stephen Harper in a secret medals parade in the PMs office. These medals were mostly for bravery and heroics of course and he threw them into the river as a show of disgust and to protest his treatment. Once his records were destroyed and any trace of him serving in the Infantry were erased he became bitter and angry because he now wouldn't qualify for any Veteran benefits or pension from wounds. Of course he still gets asked to go on more Black Ops but not as a soldier, more as a mercenary now.

I now have a general question for the members here. I have since been posted to a different unit and ran across another Commissionaire who claims to have been part of the SAS in England. He told me that he had started as a radio operator who was attached to or worked with the Green Jackets and worked in a Command Post in Northern Ireland with a joint unit made up of the Police, the SAS and Green Jackets. Once he completed this secret deployment he was selected for SAS training and deployed around the world killing bad guys and helping the weak. While he was talking, my BS meter damn near exploded. My question is, where have I heard this story before? Does anyone here know where this tale comes from? There is a similar one on the ANZMI site but I am positive this was used somewhere else too. I am certain that there are parts of this tale in a book or movie but I cant remember which one.

Edit: Missing detail added.
 
Some very active imaginations at work, I fear.

One obvious clanger is that the GG awards the medals, not the PM. SOFCOM awards are announced without names and citations.
 
The SAS story is fairly generic because the only place in the minds of non-SAS that regular army and SAS would meet and possibly work together would be the Troubles.  That being said, the only SAS they would meet would be a Liaison in an HQ.  From what I have read of SAS ops (and there is still damn little out there) the only army-SAS meetings were accidental as the SAS operated snatch, sniper and deep recce ops.
 
RGJ's and the SAS? Sounds like this fella read a copy of Andy McNab's book "Immediate Action" and fabricated himself a military career. Where did you meet this fella? I only ask because I've heard that there's a Commissionaire in London that claims to be ex SAS.
 
X_para76 said:
RGJ's and the SAS? Sounds like this fella read a copy of Andy McNab's book "Immediate Action" and fabricated himself a military career. Where did you meet this fella? I only ask because I've heard that there's a Commissionaire in London that claims to be ex SAS.
This one was in Toronto during the blackout/flooding this past summer.
 
I have always wanted to meet a walt, the experience would be entertaining...for me that is.
 
Just pull the "excellent we are in need of your services to defuse a bomb/kill a terrorist, right now" line
 
I must be lucky then cause I've met guys walting as Navy Seals and as members of my own regiment... Always good for a few laughs.
 
Lightguns said:
Troll commissionaires working in non-governmental buildings, you will find a walt.
That brush is covering a fairly wide swath.
I've seen more cases of young privates greatly exaggerating their experiences in attempts to impress young ladies in the local bars. 
 
Yeah, OK, that is a right of passage for young privates.  Heck, TOP GUN was all the rage, I was a fighter pilot instead of a Infantry Corporal.  It worked and I make no apologies for the WALTing because the ladies were so fine.
 
Looking for Walts you say?  Keep an eye on this:

http://www.cbc.ca/newsblogs/yourcommunity/2013/10/rememberance-day-show-us-your-medals.html

I suspect we'll see/hear some interesting things.
 
Lightguns said:
Yeah, OK, that is a right of passage for young privates.  Heck, TOP GUN was all the rage, I was a fighter pilot instead of a Infantry Corporal.  It worked and I make no apologies for the WALTing because the ladies were so fine.

Yeah i get that.  I have wondered if you Walt civilian roles.  Saying I am a mercenary is so much easier than explaining what I actually do, which usually gives me blank stares.
 
Hatchet Man said:
Yeah i get that.  I have wondered if you Walt civilian roles.  Saying I am a mercenary is so much easier than explaining what I actually do, which usually gives me blank stares.

Did not have to. Back then we had an ex BSAP (Rhodesian police), a Sealous Scout and a Grey's Scout on our TQ3. So we hung around with real merc's! 
 
Lightguns said:
Did not have to. Back then we had an ex BSAP (Rhodesian police), a Sealous Scout and a Grey's Scout on our TQ3. So we hung around with real merc's!

Not really. All members of the Rhodesian Security forces (Army, BSAP, Guardforce, INTAF, RhAF etc.) wheter born in Rhodesia, citizens, immigrants, or foreign volunteers served under the same terms of service. ( rates of pay etc.) There were no mercenaries in the RSF.

Also it's spelled Selous Scouts
 
Bzzliteyr said:
Looking for Walts you say?  Keep an eye on this:

http://www.cbc.ca/newsblogs/yourcommunity/2013/10/rememberance-day-show-us-your-medals.html

I suspect we'll see/hear some interesting things.


Anyone know what those two Non Canadian listed under Dave Buck are?
 
Danjanou said:
Not really. All members of the Rhodesian Security forces (Army, BSAP, Guardforce, INTAF, RhAF etc.) wheter born in Rhodesia, citizens, immigrants, or foreign volunteers served under the same terms of service. ( rates of pay etc.) There were no mercenaries in the RSF.

Also it's spelled Selous Scouts

Correct except all non Rhodseians in the RSF were not granted the legal protections that the locals got and many had to sneak out of the country after majority rule or face jail. So in the end they were treated like mercs.  You are correct on the spelling but IPhone does not agree with it. It is very hard doing this on a small screen!
 
Lightguns said:
Anyone know what those two Non Canadian listed under Dave Buck are?

http://medals.nzdf.mil.nz/nzdsm/index.html

http://medals.nzdf.mil.nz/category/e/e2.html

Both NZLD awards.

 
Danjanou said:
There were no mercenaries in the RSF.
I don't know about that; according to my dictionary* one of the definitions of a mercenary is, " a soldier serving for pay in a foreign army." So, by that definition, if you were a Canadian serving in the RSF then you were a mercenary, and from anecdotal evidence that's how the Canadian government also viewed it.

* Gage Canadian Dictionary.
 
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