Wearing Special Forces clothing in public?

[1911]

Wearing spec ops clothing in public?

Wearing spec ops clothing in public?

I see a lot of people wearing spec ops (SEAL ,Force shirts and such) out in public to show their support for the troops but I have seen on other media and forums that spec ops members don’t like that.

What could be the reason for them disliking people wearing these clothes while they are showing respect for them?

This never came up with 9/11 when grandmothers and children started showing their respect for the fallen cops and fire department members when they started dawning NYC hats and such!

 

[JoeSF]

I talked to navy guy one time who thought if you weren't in the unit or on the ship you shouldn't wear the hat. He was proud of what he did and it was part of the uniform.
I have hats from every ship I visited, but was't wearing one at the time.

 

[Hkmp5sd]

I don't mind folks wearing t-shirts, hats, etc. bearing military insignia. The thing I don't like is when they portray themselves as actually earning that insignia when in fact they did not. Some badges and symbols take a lot of time and effort for the military person to qualify for and seeing a wannabe tends to make those of us that did go through it angry. I personally do not wear clothing bearing military insignia that I did not actually earn.

 

[El Tejon]

Never.

 

[Azrael256]

Yellow ribbons, American flags, and a camo-print bandanna for me. I respect their right to wear what they want, but I don't do it.

 

[Sir Galahad]

Wait a sec, here, though. The entire 101st Airborne wears the airborne tab even though that has not been a true airborne division for decades. They are "air assault" now (and, yes, I got my wop-wop wings while I was with the Funky Chicken.) But everyone in the div wears the airborne tab whether they went to aur assault school or not. It's part of the unit patch.

 

[1911]

I feel the same way about people trying to pass themselves off as people that have been there and done that.but wearing a garment in a show of respect for a unit is nothing more than that.Showing respect.You would think that you stepped on their dead mothers grave the way some of the spec ops guys talk when you wear a SEAL shirt out in public.

 

[Don Gwinn]

I disagree. I don't wear that stuff for a reason. If I had worked my way into one of those units, I wouldn't want an overweight school teacher with a beard walking around in my unit's insignia.

It's not a rock band. YMMV.

 

[feedthehogs]

Some elite military unit members are no different than swat, fire dept, ems or any other special groups.

Most members do not care if civilians wear clothing.
In fact most members could care a less and want nothing to do with past associations.

There are some who's whole idenity has revolved around that elite membership and who take it a personaly if someone who has not been a member, wears the clothing.

By being part of an elite group it lets them stand apart from an otherwise normal or run of the mill life.

While I'm proud of what I've done in the past, I don't care about who wears what. That part of my life is gone by and I'm to busy livin to give a crap.

The only thing I can't figure out is why people wear POLICE or SWAT team shirts.

Nothing like putting a bulls eye on your back.

 

[444]

feedthehogs brings up an interesting point. Since 9/11 there are millions of people wearing NYPD and NYFD hats and T-Shirts. In fact major league baseball teams wore those hats during games. None of those people went into those burning towers as they were coming down. But, they want to show their support and thanks to those guys who did and never made it out alive. What is wrong with that ?
We have people from all over the world come into our station on a daily basis and want one of our T-Shirts. If anyone has an extra, they get it.

 

[riverdog]

I also don't wear shirts or hats with unit insignia because folks always ask about the unit. Then when you honestly admit that it's just a T-shirt, you're an instant wannabe, even if you don't want to be. The only thing I wear that comes close is a pair of gym shorts that says:
N
A
V
Y
down the side. I'm retired Navy so it doesn't bother me to wear those at all. You will never catch me wearing a SEAL T-shirt or hat, never, no way. Same with anything Army or Marine Corps. I respect them by not encroaching. It isn't just a T-shirt.

 

[1911]

Don,

I respect what your saying but I don’t agree with your logic.

Why would it bother you if an over weight school teacher is trying to show his respect for your hard work and dedication?

People have been wearing Us armed forces clothing for decades.Heck I even participate in re-enactments where I wear colonial and southern forces uniforms but that does not make me a solider or a wanna be.

A friend of mine was in service on the Jessie Brown and gave me a hat.He is very proud when I wear it out in public.Why is it that only the spec ops seem to have a problem with it?

 

[Preacherman]

I think the Special Forces have a special problem, in that there are many who claim to have been in SpecFor in one guise or another, but are really fakers. In fact, some SpecFor outfits (particularly the SEALs) have some of their ex-members devoting a lot of time and attention to exposing the fakers for what they are. I haven't come across many who falsely claim service in the Armed Forces in general, but I've certainly seen more than my fair share of those who claim to have been Rangers, or SEALs, or Airborne. If one looks at the percentages, rather less than 5% of the armed forces come anywhere near a SpecFor qualification, but of those who publicly boast about having served in the military, in my experience, something over 50% claim to have been in SpecFor! Something not quite right here... For a graphic example, try visiting the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C. and check out the number of guys in uniform, wearing medals, who walk around approaching visitors and telling them all about their deeds of derring-do. (Perhaps that last should be derring-do-do! )

I guess the SpecFor guys are just trying to preserve their hard-won turf. I don't have a problem with that.

 

[Destructo6]

I wear my Bro's squadron t-shirts all the time (wearing a Pt Mugu one right now). Used to wear my own command t-shirts from Okinawa regularly before some a-hole stole them out of a laundry room dryer.

I have no problem with someone wearing a generic Army/Navy/USMC/AF t-shirt with no personal connection.

IMO, a person wearing a specific command or unit's t-shirt should have a personal connection.

 

[JoeSF]

While you have been arguing what to wear you have been surrounded by the Iraqi army.......come out with your hands up!
Take their tee shirts AL Hababb!
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A lot of people just want to show support for our troops.

 

[Boats]

Heck, my old ship and many of the ones who visit Portland Oregon sell/sold ship's logo ballcaps to all takers to raise money for the welfare and recreation fund. I don't have a problem with earnest civvy interest in (or support of) military units they have never been in. After all, the taxpayers paid for everything I used in the military. It is hard for landlubbers to fake being a squid anyways. Furthermore, I can't really fathom why anyone would bother.

The special forces guys, and Marines generally, have a different problem of course. The legitimate ones are tarred by the stupid antics of the fakes and wannabes. There is little to gain by spending one's valuable time exposing the cretins who'd try to pass themselves off as the geniune article. Anyone with half a brain will eventually have their BS detector go off on a guy who comes off like Bill Paxson's used car salesman/super spy character in True Lies.

 

[1911]

Excellent points about the spec ops having a problem with wanna bees and fakers trying to pass themselves off as the real thing.I think there is a much bigger percentage of people faking special forces activity than the enlisted men.I think the anology of Bill Paxson's used car salesman/super spy character in True Lies is a excellent example of what the special forces real beef is with people wearing the shirts.

There are squirrels everywhere but I still am asking the question of why a 84 year old grandma with saggy boobs, wearing a Trident T-shirt in a classic form of respect for the SEALS would get publicly slammed by spec ops just because she was wearing a shirt out of respect?

 

[Kharn]

I work on a naval base as a civilian, I'd never even think about wearing my Washington or Stennis caps, they are for display only (I toured the Washington and went on one of the 1-day family-type cruises on the Stennis).

Kharn

 

[JimP]

First, special forces guys really wouldn't care who wears what with SEAL on it, they are different units.

Special Forces is an Army unit and an Army unit alone. Please get the nomenclature correct.

Most BTDT's don't really care until the wannabe's open their suckholes and start spoutin crap about being agent orange and HALO'ing into Baghdad to rescue the President's 16 year old beauty-queen nymphomaniac daughter. Everyone knows that I'm the only guy to have ever done that.

 

[Kharn]

JimP: Chelsea was a nymphomaniac? Ugh, talk about TMI, you need to get some help...


Kharn

 

[1911]

I am not up on my miltary nomenclature like I should be.I guess I should say SPec Ops.How is that?You been hanging out at that other website?

 

[Quartus]

If you don't have orders authorizing it, you have no right to wear it. Period. Those who haven't served have no right to an opinion on the subject.

Most members do not care if civilians wear clothing.
In fact most members could care a less and want nothing to do with past associations.

I don't know where that's coming from, but my experience with the real deals is just the opposite.

 

[rock jock]

I went into my dealer's shop a few months ago and there was this guy with a military haircut, muscle T-shirt, about 30ish, with a rather large tattoo on his upper arm that bore the SEAL symbol and said "SEAL Team 3". Normally I would ask the guy if he had been in the SEALs and about his experiences. In this case, the guy had a beergut the size of a watermelon and I was afraid of the answer I would get.

 

[1911]

“If you don't have orders authorizing it, you have no right to wear it. Period. Those who haven't served have no right to an opinion on the subject.â€


Quartus

WhAt do you mean that we have no opinion on the subject? Are we not the tax payers that flip the bill and are protected by the constitution that you swore to uphold?

This is exactly the mentality I am asking about. When someone chooses to wear the spec ops shirts in public, in most cases they are not trying to be wanna bees but they are showing support for the unit and the cause.I read on another internet site that a Navy SEAL wore a NYC firefighters emblem on his vest in AFganastan and said that it would be the last thing the enemy saw right before he turned his lights out..Was this person a wanna be or someone that had no right to wear it and should have had no opinion on the subject.?

I am as patriotic as can be but you sir have no right to tell me what I can wear and what I can’t wear.Its a free country with free speech and its protected by the constitution.When I wear a Army Generals uniform and show up on CNN as a expert then you will have the right to condemn me!

Rock Jock,

Don’t fall into the trap that a lot of people fall into and judge a book by its cover.Many of the spec ops personnel that are now retired have not seen to it to keep in shape like they did when they where in sevice.Have you seen a recent pic of Richard Marcinko?

Enough said!

 

[ahadams]

As mentioned elsewhere I used to drive a desk for Army Intelligence. From time to time I got to interact with some special operators but not all that often and my impression was, at least at that time, that it was safest if one did not claim to be one of them, and did not wear whatever their distinctive badge was. For SF was the metal de oppresso libre (or however that goes), badge and the green beret with group flash, SEALS it was their seal qualification badge ( if you are not a SEAL do not EVER use the term "budweiser" for the badge to a SEAL, even if he uses it first) to the Rangers it was their Ranger tab and Black beret (there's a general who's got a lot to answer for that one in Army heaven, lemme tell you), and I have no idea what the USAF PJ's or the USMC Force Recon guys have 'cause I never worked around any of them.

just my 2 cents' worth,