Anyone get tired of the term "Operator" being thrown around looselly?

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george burns

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http://www.gunnuts.net/2013/05/16/you-are-not-an-operator/
I saw this article that summed it up. It's gotten so over and misused for marketing and Mall ninja use that I was happy someone wrote an article on it. Not every newbie with a 500 dollar polymer gun is an Operator. Unless when used like operator of a motor vechicle. But in the military sense it's a little different to be associated as an Operator, than just having a gun. Thoughts
 
Operator to me means Delta, SEAL, or other military under Special Operations Command. Your local SWAT team, FBI HRT, or an former soldier doing contract work is not an "operator" AFAIC.

Use "operator" in a gun name and it will sell to all the "ninjas" out there.
 
BTW, the first time I heard operator used was in reference to Delta. "Operator" was used to differentiate the guys that do combat vs the support people in Delta. The supply, admin, and administrative types in Delta are not really operators.
 
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Can't say I have even seen the term "Operator" all that much or if so, that I have paid any attention to it at all. I have known a number of military personnel who have moved about in those particular circles and have yet to hear them refer to themselves or others by that name either.
 
george burns wrote:
Anyone get tired of the term "Operator" being throw around looselly [sic] ?

Nope.

When I'm reading casually, shooter, gunman, rifleman, trigger-man, operator, and the like are all effectively synonyms to me.
 
Only on the internet do we get all spooled up about words. I could care less about how firearms and training are marketed. Anyone with a lick of sense should be able to discern the posers from the real deal.

And what does that writer mean that my holster and belt aren't "kit?" It's kit if I say it is.
 
An operator answers the phone.
A polymer gun named an 'Operator' is marketing. So is Tactical, Law Enforcement, Milspec, Modern Sporting, and all the rest.
"...Delta, SEAL, or other military under Special Operations Command..." And CSOR(Canadian Special Operations Regiment) and JTF 2 are troopies just like they've always been. Even though they're said to call themselves operators.
"...happy someone wrote an article on it..." That's not exactly what the guy says. He's talking about all the assorted shooting school, um, operators from 4 years ago not being qualified to teach just because they may have seen combat.
"...my holster and belt aren't "kit?"..." Your holster and belt along with your mag pouches most assuredly are kit. That's defined as a set of tools, supplies or materials for a specific purpose. Also the personal stuff a troopie carries around. It's called a 'kit bag' for a reason.
 
I always called the annoying collection of leather, plastic and metal that gives me lower back pain my "rig". I figured a "kit" was what happened to your rig when you added a rucksack and lunch for three days to it.

"Operator A F" is what we jokingly call guys who think they are slick, but are actually comically inept.

"High speed low drag" is what happens after the proper application of lube.

"POG's" are the accounting department

a "Door kicker" is a drunk guy who came home at 0300 and was locked out by his wife.



Joking aside, Due to some changes in how my state licenses License To Carry instructors, I tend from time to time to get people in my classes that can (and frequently do) teach me a thing or two. Almost always they are the quiet, unassuming type. One time I had a gentlemen in class that was almost completely forgettable. He looked like he was maybe in his late 40's or maybe early 50's. He may have been mildly Hispanic, or maybe just spent too much time in the Texas sun. He was very polite and unassuming. He had said during introductions earlier in the day that he worked for Texas DPS, but didn't do anything exciting. He absolutely destroyed the range. As in, if I hadn't been scoring and timing I wouldn't have believed it. After class he handed me a business card that had the word Ranger before his name.

That's about the time I decided that if I ever feel frisky enough to cause a ruckus, it will be outside the state of Texas.
 
Meh.... If someone wants to call themselves an operator it's not my concern. Of course I'll assume they answer phones at a call center....

I've met plenty of veterans who's general firearm knowledge is on par with your average Scheels clerk. A couple minutes of chatting and you should be able to discern if someone knows what they are talking about assuming you know the correct questions to ask.
 
Only on the internet do we get all spooled up about words. I could care less about how firearms and training are marketed. Anyone with a lick of sense should be able to discern the posers from the real deal.

^^^This. I had to chuckle when the author of the article, whines about the use of the term "operator", then uses the very overused and cliquish phrases " super rad dudes" and "totally rad" himself. That lost any and all legitimacy to me........like, totally dude.

Now, while I agree that it seems like any and everyone who has ever shot a firearm is now some form of an expert, qualified to charge big bucks and teach others, and they hang a shingle with a catch phase name on it like "Team Gun Nuts" on it, many folks like Old Dog have it figured out. If you have just a tad more sense than the good Lord gave a peanut, you don't need a self proclaimed gun rag expert to tell you what is a gun/operator and what ain't.
 
The word Operator being thrown around really doesn't bother me. It's the Fantasy Operators that do. You know those guys that never went into the military but have taken a high-speed weapons class or two and think that they are the s****.
 
Fun discussion. Here I've owned a Glock all these years, and now I find out I'm not an "Operator" just because I own a black plastic gun with night sights. I suspected as much. Seriously though, all the tactical this and that has become more than a little tiresome. This, after years of being bombarded with that term on seemingly every consumer product imaginable that can be produced in the color Black.........

BTW Click, I've never come home at 0300 drunk and been locked out, but have been paid to kick some doors. Never acquired the official designation "Door Kicker" though. Sometimes, "Guy with sore knee" would have been appropriate:D
 
Please, no more operator, and no more of the ridiculously overused tactical.

Tactical holster? Tactical pants? Tactical underwear? Where does it stop?
 
But are they tactical operators? I'm in agreement with most of you. I see it more as a fad, like really nice things used to be called "the bees knees". It's common now, it will pass. Those who are posers will out themselves as such in quick time.
 
I always called the annoying collection of leather, plastic and metal that gives me lower back pain my "rig". I figured a "kit" was what happened to your rig when you added a rucksack and lunch for three days to it.

"Operator A F" is what we jokingly call guys who think they are slick, but are actually comically inept.

"High speed low drag" is what happens after the proper application of lube.

"POG's" are the accounting department

a "Door kicker" is a drunk guy who came home at 0300 and was locked out by his wife.



Joking aside, Due to some changes in how my state licenses License To Carry instructors, I tend from time to time to get people in my classes that can (and frequently do) teach me a thing or two. Almost always they are the quiet, unassuming type. One time I had a gentlemen in class that was almost completely forgettable. He looked like he was maybe in his late 40's or maybe early 50's. He may have been mildly Hispanic, or maybe just spent too much time in the Texas sun. He was very polite and unassuming. He had said during introductions earlier in the day that he worked for Texas DPS, but didn't do anything exciting. He absolutely destroyed the range. As in, if I hadn't been scoring and timing I wouldn't have believed it. After class he handed me a business card that had the word Ranger before his name.

That's about the time I decided that if I ever feel frisky enough to cause a ruckus, it will be outside the state of Texas.
I always called the annoying collection of leather, plastic and metal that gives me lower back pain my "rig". I figured a "kit" was what happened to your rig when you added a rucksack and lunch for three days to it.

"Operator A F" is what we jokingly call guys who think they are slick, but are actually comically inept.

"High speed low drag" is what happens after the proper application of lube.

"POG's" are the accounting department

a "Door kicker" is a drunk guy who came home at 0300 and was locked out by his wife.



Joking aside, Due to some changes in how my state licenses License To Carry instructors, I tend from time to time to get people in my classes that can (and frequently do) teach me a thing or two. Almost always they are the quiet, unassuming type. One time I had a gentlemen in class that was almost completely forgettable. He looked like he was maybe in his late 40's or maybe early 50's. He may have been mildly Hispanic, or maybe just spent too much time in the Texas sun. He was very polite and unassuming. He had said during introductions earlier in the day that he worked for Texas DPS, but didn't do anything exciting. He absolutely destroyed the range. As in, if I hadn't been scoring and timing I wouldn't have believed it. After class he handed me a business card that had the word Ranger before his name.

That's about the time I decided that if I ever feel frisky enough to cause a ruckus, it will be outside the state of Texas.
 
Just owning a single weapon, even a Glock with a huge weapon light under it, does not qualify one as an operator. He will still need:
1. A beard (real one)
2. Bad a.. tattoos (viking motifs preferably)
3. A shemagh
4. Morale patches (lots of them)
5. Punisher logo on underwear
 
I used to work in the construction industry an operator is a person that controls the use of construction equipment. :scrutiny:

In my line of work it is the same. The operators run the equipment more efficiently than the service techs, but the service techs can fix the machine and the operators usually can't or won't.

I'm a service tech and lost my operator skills years ago. :D

Of course, what I do for a living isn't firearms related. :)
 
By the way, in my part of the world my generation has always used the word "gear" to describe "kit".

Until the internet, I always though "kit" was a British term, except for lunch kits which are American the best I can tell.
 
In my line of work, machining, "operator" is a mild pejorative. It implies that the person is simply a "button pusher", only capable of loading a part and pushing the cycle start button. "Machinist" implies being able to set up, select tools, do the required math, etc. Being called an "operator" would torque me off a little!
 
http://www.gunnuts.net/2013/05/16/you-are-not-an-operator/
I saw this article that summed it up. It's gotten so over and misused for marketing and Mall ninja use that I was happy someone wrote an article on it. Not every newbie with a 500 dollar polymer gun is an Operator. Unless when used like operator of a motor vechicle. But in the military sense it's a little different to be associated as an Operator, than just having a gun. Thoughts

It is synonymous with mercenary.
 
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