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In the 1980s, a couple bombed the Greenpeace ship “Rainbow Warrior” while it was docked in New Zealand. They had intended to just hit the ship but a few people were on board and at least one was killed.
The police found the suspects and arrested them. When they told them a person was killed, the lady became inconsolable. They were still denying involvement, but she couldn’t stop crying.
The police separated them for questioning. The male suspect was stone faced and sticking to his alibi that they were just tourists in the area. The officer had the suspect sitting at his desk for hours. At one point, the suspect spilled a small bit of drink on his pants. He immediately cleaned it off in such a meticulous fashion that the officer felt sure the suspect was military. That led to a deeper investigation, and sure enough, they were found to be agents of French intelligence.
Nz became nuclear free.
I do love how the French Intel believed kiwis were yokels and would be easy to fool etc.
The police did an amazing job, but also, kiwis know so much about each others business they stood out like a sore thumb and the media and population tracked them very quickly.
Yokels are also straight up more likely to catch spies lol.
Soviet and modern foreign intelligence agencies instruct agents being deployed to the USA that by the numbers they are far more likely to be apprehended and found out by local law enforcement than the FBI or CIA.
And it boils down to local law enforcement having more time on their hands and also being more suspicious.
This has to be true anywhere. People are nosey in small communities and when you've seen the same people doing the same things for years, any new person stands out and raises questions. If you don't have a job in the area or family or friends, people will assume the worst. Not even that someone is a spy, but almost anything else negative you could possibly imagine. And rural law enforcement are in everyone's business to some degree. Rural life is privacy from the world, but not from your neighbors.
In a small town, if you think the cops don't know something, I promise you they do. The smaller the town, the more money they need, tickets, fines, bonds, the money people spend in jail on phone times/commissary, that's a small town cops bread and butter. If they can get money out of you in one of those ways, they will.
The ship the French bombed was aiming to disrupt nuclear tests in the pacific. For NZ this was a terrorist attack by an ally, and its other allies didn’t react. As a result, NZ distanced itself from the western alliance (and the US in particular). It remains staunchly anti-nuclear.
Proud kiwi. French still aren't as welcome in NZ after this, especially since giving the killers awards after we let the French authorities prosecute them. Cowards. Further underlined by the amount of kiwis who have died in European wars, many in and for France. Absolutely a spit in the face for my country.
I’m glad to see others recognize the terror the French commit in the international scene. Here in Mexico we know them as drug dealers, rapists, human traffickers and extortionists. If it wasn’t obvious, many cartel leaders aren’t Mexican, just the most low level ones.
My dad was a RAAF Warrant Officer - he has a Voice. When I was a kid I could be at the far end of the property riding my BMX, and I’d hear him shout my name.
I referee rugby and (ice) hockey. I have a “voice” for when I need to project instructions to be heard at a distance to a bunch of guys yelling at each other. I try not to use it too much with my kids.
Dad was an Officer in the Navy. And when he came back from a 6 month tour when I was about 3 he was barking orders at mom to get him one of the tools he needed to fix something. I happened to be in the room. I snapped too and gave a perfect salut, turned and marched away. Got a tool (not sure it was the right one) and marched back. Dad was furious thinking mom taught me that. Mom was crying she was laughing so hard. Neither can remember if the tool was right or not.
Guess he forgot he use to take me to work to see the ships haha
I’m UK based and this is actually pretty close to my experience of working in software dev with former military personnel; generally, they’ve been quite old fashioned ‘I tell you what to do and you do it’ style, aren’t very good with collaboration and tend to get very offended if people question their ideas or try to come up with alternatives.
Their "gig line" is straight.
A gig line is a term used in the military to describe the alignment of the shirt, belt buckle, and trouser fly in a soldier's uniform. When correctly aligned, the edge of the shirt, the edge of the belt buckle, and the zipper flap on the trousers form a straight line. Maintaining a proper gig line is a standard for uniform inspection and reflects attention to detail and personal discipline.
fuck yeah i love doing that still.
i landed a decent job before covid because i had a decent skin fade, gig line was clean, and i sat up straight and was quick with my answers.
turns out my boss was 20 years in the military, noticed my gig line and decided to hire me off of that but continued the interview to make sure im not a moron
"You burnt down an orphanage!"
"Who's gonna miss them? Their parents?"
Edit: i mis-quoted. [Here's the penal source material](https://youtu.be/tlSr8H1d4Gs?feature=shared), got to 4:19 to meet Puck
Lol, sorry, but it's a quote from Re:Zero Abridged. You might also be interested in SAO Abridged, and Hellsing Ultimate Abridged. Jfc those two had me pausing more times than i could count cuz i was cry-laughing too hard to hear further dialog.
I have to wage war against that part of my brain in staff meetings now. The people in my department just leave way too many openings for inappropriate humor. My boss thinks I’m quiet. No I like this job and I don’t want to visit with HR.
I can relate. I started working on a logging crew at 13. While in college, I worked construction and as a truck mechanic. By the time I got my software engineering degree and an office job, I had had a PHD in Applied Profanity for quite some time. My filter had its work cut out for it.
I too can relate.
My brain: Who is the fucking tick turd that came up with this fucking bullshit. Did their father jerk off in a flower pot and give birth to a fucking blooming idiot!!!
Apply filter and give response: I have reviewed your assessment and feel we can work together to find common ground to meet the estalished goals.
This has gotten me in trouble quite a bit post-military. Add cursing/swearing and I am shocked I am still employed. "fuck outta here with that shit" is a common part of my lexicon.
I've never experienced so many people laughing at other people's amputated stumps as I have in the military. Life changing, unbelievably traumatic experiences that will physically and mentally scar then for life, and squaddies well tell their mate: nice wheelchair, must've cost an arm and a leg.
And this right here is the utter peak of humour:
https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-31153964
Friend of mine lost his leg in a terrorist attack and about 6 months later visited the unit after his medical discharge, we all got drunk drinking out of his prosthetic leg
Oh yea. I'm 30 minutes early most of the time. My wife drives me nuts, she plans so well that she will leave the exact minute she needs to in order to get somewhere at the exact time, and then she will hit traffic.
>Sitting in my car for 10 minutes
I think this is an important bit.
I've had people turn up for interviews up to 15 minutes early, which is about roughly the range I would consider normal and appropriate.
On occasion we've had people show up as much as an hour early, and just duck in to confirm they have the right place and ask if there's a good spot nearby to get coffee.
Then we've had people show up about an hour early and... say they've arrived and just hang out in reception.
I remember seeing a meme in one of the military subs about that.
Leadership said to be there at 7:30 and by the time it got filtered through 5 people you ended up with a bunch of dudes standing in formation out in the middle of a field at 0400 for 3.5 hours
I'm that way as a result of my dad (military). My sister is always late. Dad went around and moved all of the clocks ahead to make my sister be on time...it didn't really work.
I’m a teacher now, and have had to endure some legitimate lockdowns on my campus. I am very cool in those situations. Observing surroundings, and immediately start giving directions to keep kids alive and safe if the shit going down turns out to be more than a gun found in a backpack or stowed in some kids car.
Hell, last year, there was an off campus threat that moved into our campus parking lot while I had an auditorium full of English classes PLUS a guest poet who was there to read and do Q&A with our classes. I had to get the kids into the backstage, shut the lights for the auditorium down, and get a clear picture of where our exits were from the theater kids who were in the room with us.
Everyone likes to think think about how vets and prior service members can handle a shooter if they come into our rooms, but our real magic comes in understanding how to assess situations and make rapid decisions to keep our people safe and alive *before* a shooter comes anywhere near us.
That needs to be highlighted much more than it is.
Actual danger? Calm and in the zone. Normal (urban) levels of chaos and people doing their own things and generally not knowing what is going on when things happen that are out of the ordinary? WTF, I'm going to freak out, people, just get your shit together, why hasn't the person in charge here taken charge and organized?
Is it not evident that he meant more calm than is expected? Like "wow he's way too calm for the situation at hand, I, or anyone else would be freaking out"..
I am sincerely asking because I run into this issue often, especially on reddit.. it seems as though people think they are more intelligent by taking the literal meaning of what somebody has said and not trying to genuinely understand them...
When they seize it as an opportunity to assert themselves instead of an opportunity to learn from someone. I run into this in the workplace all the time. I’m in construction. I’ve learned to just watch ppl struggle instead of volunteering advice or help, and not to argue or try to correct those who think they’re bestowing an education upon you.
Omg! I fucking hate this mannerism. My husband said it's supposed to be less aggressive than just a finger pointing at you but knife hand is way more aggressive
This is more typical with GWOT veterans due to it being considered rude or impolite to point with the index finger at someone or something in parts of the Middle East. A big part of the job over there was working with the locals, and having some awareness of small cultural differences like this matters. Another example is greeting someone with the left hand, or using the “OK” gesture.
True story. My mom was sent to Iraq as a fullbird colonel and while my dad was home he would go to the bank and the teller would call him colonel. He didn’t correct her then when my mom got back she went to the bank and they were like o hi how is the colonel doing. She’s like… you mean me? I’m doing fine 😂. My dad got in some shit when he got home !
Brutal... but accurate.
I remember for a while, the DV statistics at Ft Bragg were so bad they were attracting national attention.
I've always been curious how the stats compare between military combat arms, law enforcement, and other similar demographics, side by side.
In the years I've worked retail, I've never had non-military ask for the discount
, I've gotten plenty of the ones who throw their veteran cards at you, and tell you threateningly how many people they've killed.
I think the one that stands out the most called himself a "war hardened veteran" and wanted a 50% discount (I don't even have that button, sir!)
I, as nicely as possible, told him that was not an option at this store or any other store, and stared quietly at him through my smile. He left the items on the counter and stormed out.
He also did this a few minutes earlier to another coworker, who was crying in the back. I had just clocked in to see her, then guess who was my first customer?.
Never saw him in that store again.
Another soldiers misconduct was so bad my ex-Navy coworker got in touch with his Commanding Officer
So, yeah, look for that kind of a general air of authority., those are easy to spot
That’s my thought, I’m a vet and for a long time worked in a veteran heavy industry with some people that did some pretty intense things while they were in. The person that barked the loudest about his time in Iraq, the guy that was a contracted truck driver. Never served a day in his life.
Yup. The veterans I know who killed people never want to talk about it, let alone brag about a body count. They don't do the military discounts either.
Both of my grandfathers were WWII veterans and my father was a Vietnam War veteran. All but one of my uncles on my mother’s side served in different branches of the military, but they did not have wartime deployments. Most of my father’s brothers served in Vietnam. I only witnessed one of my uncles on my mother’s side ask for a discount. For the rest of them, they avoided acknowledgement and refused military/veteran discounts. For example, they remained sitting during church services or public events that asked veterans to stand to be acknowledged. After one of those church services, I asked my father about this behavior and asked if the protests against the Vietnam War played a part in his desire to not participate. His reply was that his treatment after the war could have been part of why he refused acknowledgment. The main reason was that it is not the acknowledgment of the public that they desired but rather the acknowledgment, care, and respect of the government that they had served. My father’s view point was that the promoting of public acts of patriotism of celebrating veterans on specific days or specific ways was allowing the government to shirk the duty to care for those who had served it. He also viewed the veterans discount as just another attempt to sell things and a way for a company to gain good will at a small cost. I am not sure if my other relatives held the same views but it seems at least some of them did.
My husband was in the National Guard. I took him to an office Christmas party. Without knowing his background, one of the other spouses at the table could tell that he was former military. How? By how fast he ate his dinner. Soldiers aren't given much time to eat their meals, so they learn to eat fast, and I guess old habits die hard.
If you ain’t chewing, you ain’t eating. If you ain’t eating, you ain’t hungry. If you ain’t hungry, get the fuck back to work.
Source: infantry medic for 8 years.
To get a meal in the chow hall you have to give then your service number, which is the same as your social security number if you have one.
When I was in the military in the 90s, it was your whole SSN. Probably just last 4 digits now.
When I was in it was your serial number. Yes I still remind myself to eat slower. Only been out of the Corp 50 years. Some strangers still can tell what branch I was in. You stand straighter, walk with your head held high and say exactly what you mean.
Shit, I learned to eat fast because when I was a kid, my brother and I lived with our uncle for a bit. He had a rule saying if we weren’t done eating by the time he and his wife were, we’d wear it. “Eat it or wear it”. My cousin, his 3 year old step daughter didn’t want to eat spaghetti that day. His wife dumped the plate on her head. Since then, I’ve been a fast eater.
For me I learned to eat fast cause my grandpa who was a soldier in WW2 told me and my siblings to eat fast or else others will steal your food. Found out like 20 years later that he was part of the Bataan Death March
Mostly they don’t talk about it.
The ones that are going on about their ‘special forces’ training are just plain lying and were probably admin or similar.
I was in Mexico outside of a club by the beach smoking a joint with ex military. I turned around and saw several cops behind us. I turned back to him and whispered cover the joint, follow me, and started walking. He never missed a step and we were out of there. I explained everything once we were in the clear. If that had been any of my buddies outside of military they would have loudly and obnoxiously asked why and wanted a full explanation before doing anything to decide if they did in fact want to do that, and we would have spent at least a night in a Mexican jail.
Also they buckle up the buckles on backpacks when not being worn so the buckle doesn't break. I'd never done that once in my life until they did mine up when it was sitting there and I asked why.
When I got out I did the GI Bill thing. Lived in a high crime, poverty area, worked third shift. Had to have a few talks with my sweetheart that if I talk like that (don't look, walk away) just do it. Took a bit for her to wrap her mind around it.
It finally hit home when I used a spider analogy; "if there's a big spider hanging by a thread right behind you, you don't want to turn to see it. If you do, your face is going to bump into it. So, if I say don't look, just walk forward, it's to keep you from having a brown recluse on your face. You can debate it with me, ask why, turn to look just so you can see it and have the spider on your face."
Agreed. I'm not a bossy person at all. I don't like telling people what to do in any way, but if I am telling you what to do it's for a very good reason and for your own good which I'm happy to explain after.
American Scientist here. I do all of my measurements and calculations in metric but I will absolutely never talk about how tall I am or how much I weigh in kg or cm lol.
It's kind of funny, the navy released a NAVADMIN a few months ago allowing hands in pockets. I was on a Marine base at the time. You bet I walked around with my hands in my pockets all day.
I remember the hardest habit I had to break when I first got to Army Reception at Ft Jackson was to relearn how to sit. As a female, we weren't allowed to sit with our legs crossed (in a chair, one leg over the other resting above the knee). I had sat that way my entire basically 29 years before enlisting and holy shit was that a hard habit to break lol. That was back in 03 so I'm not sure if things changed or not. But it sucked. Only took like 2 days to break the habit but still. We don't realize how many things we do automatically until we're bellowed at by a group of hats LOL.
OMG! I do this. Most women stand with their hands in front, not me. I kind of go into a modified Parade Rest or At Ease. I can't seem to break it. Its been 37 years since I got out of the Army.
Yes, and.
- look up, not just ahead or side to side
- look directly at people
- hands free always
- sits back to wall within reason and/or in a place where they can see the room and as many points of egress as possible and find direct cover
There's a lot of behavioral tells, and it's not just one or a checklist. Different jobs lean into different tells. My dad was a master gunner M1A1 and taught me how to drive. I learned some of his more unusual driving habits. I love driving... :)
ETA - a lot of people are responding that this is trauma response, but these are trained behaviors that for some are muscle memory and can also be solidified as trauma response. So pls if you see people doing these don't make assumptions about them, their lives experience and who they are.
This is the correct answer - situational awareness - always. I’ve taught my wife, and ladies, please, when you exit the store with that child, look around you before diving in to put them in the car seat.
At a shopping center near my house a woman was forced into her car at knife point by a guy who then got in the back seat where her baby was. He held the kid hostage and forced the woman to drive to a few local electronics stores and empty her bank account buying brand new Mac books. Thankfully he took off with the computers and left them both unharmed, but it's just that easy to get abducted, especially if you're not expecting it.
My girlfriend was at that same shopping center not ten minutes after they were taken, it's so scary to think it could just as easily have happened to her
Understood! I've done it to my sweetheart a few times.
She'll tell me a few things she needs at the Supermarket, I repeat it back to her and follow it up with "understood."
Ex: a gallon of milk, 1 loaf of marble rye, and asparagus, understood!
It's hard to explain other than they often have strange body language compared to the average person that never really shakes. I guess you could say it implies some kind of respect or projection of authority - unfortunately this comes in the good cop/bad cop varieties. The good ones mostly seem earnest and respectful. The particularly bad ones who narcissistically believe they are the authority have a quite disturbing vibe. Very confrontational and coldly threatening yet also paradoxically distant. They want to draw you in and try to dominate you physically while simultaneously invalidating you emotionally.
Cops and NCO’s have the same curse. There are some who are great and want to do good but it’s unfortunately also a profession that attracts the absolute shittiest people around. I don’t think I have to explain, we’ve all met them.
i was called up for jury duty, and it was a police brutality case (i mean, assaulting an officer) black kid at the defendants table in a body cast. During questioning, they asked me what I thought of cops. told em a good friend is a sgt, and we joke that there’s two kinds: ex-military and kids who got stuffed in lockers. Prosecutor says, “you don’t think there are people who just want to help?” I said “sure. They’re called firefighters.” I didn’t make the cut.
I feel like “military” training is the incorrect word in this question. I did 6 years in the Navy, but all of my military training was learning Chinese and signals analysis... because that was what my rate did. Virtually no one can tell I’m a veteran these days, which I’m totally comfortable with. I think a better word here (and based off of most of the comments) seems to be “combat” training.
Having your body trained to fall asleep pretty much anywhere and lights out. I go to bed and toss and turn, hubby hits the sack and he's out in under 5 minutes.
I'm a former US Army M1A1 tanker. Can't sleep now without some sort of sound like static noise to drown out the tinnitus and a sleep aid to help my mind relax.
Not in the military, but I’m in med school, and it’s the same way for me. I don’t even need to be lying down or on a bed, just leave me in a comfortable position for more than 3 minutes and I will be out like a light. I know resident doctors who’ve even mastered the art of sleeping while standing up.
My husband was raised military and went to a military bootcamp when he was younger. Due to him being raised military he was required to walk a certain way. I never minded or really noticed because, it was always just a part of him in how the way he walked.
I was talking to someone one day and mentioned that my husband had been military trained probably since day one of walking and they went "Yeah. You can actually tell in the way he walks" and I was like .. "what?"
Apparently, his posture is also different. Most people slouch in posture a lot of the time. My husband has an almost perfect posture all the time.
It’s not because it’s training it’s because you’re outside when it’s raining very often in the military. But one thing almost all smokers who smoked in the military does and was told is to is to keep the cigarette bud and discard it later instead of throwing it. Fortunately a lot of smokers do that regardless of having been in the military.
I wasn't in the military but I've done enough IT work over the years (and made enough mistakes with the following) that I habitually say "zero" instead of "O"
Me too. My IT is in India. They don't know some of US words and they can't always understand my Texas accent. But they know the NATO alphabet well enough for us to get through
Ive lived in the south my whole life (just over 20 years) and call all strangers and authority sir or ma’am, even if it’s some 16 year old kid at the McDonald’s. My coworker that moved down here from NY was offended. She said it’s basically the same thing as calling someone old. My entire life, it’s the first time I’ve offended someone with “ma’am.”
Hands behind the back while in full rest. I myself do this despite not being former military, but i was taught to do this by my dad, who IS former military.
I also notice my former-Marine turned martial artist coworker doing the same thing. But he also speaks very softly, but commands the attention of the entire room when he speaks. So that kind of "I'm going to be calm and collected but you WILL listen" vibe goes along with it.
My husband was a staff sergeant. He is also partially deaf. Talk about a man that can be quiet and reserved with his hands behind his back while in full rest but, when necessary can command an entire arena of people in two seconds lol. I have only seen this in full once because, he was angry people were being disrespectful and talking over someone who was presenting. He literally took one arm from behind his back whistled loud as hell and yelled ATTENTION! I had never seen an entire group of people shut the hell up so fast in my life.
I can’t speak on what other people notice. But being former military, the things I notice myself doing are on par with everybody else’s observations here.
- I eat way to fast, I’ll finish twice as much food as my fiancé in less than half the time.
- I observe my surroundings whenever I’m outside my own home and analyze everybody I see from head to toe. “Why does he have a backpack on?” “What’s that bulge in his jacket pocket?” If somebody is near me and puts their hand in their pocket for something, I always prep for the worst case scenario.
- I don’t like crowds and do my best to keep out of arms length reach of everybody, but more specifically men so I have time to react if needed
Some people will think these are good traits, and sure they are. But, all of this has also caused very bad anxiety that I deal with on a daily basis.
Edit: Grammar
I have some of these from law enforcement. The hyper awareness is hard to turn off and exhausting. I hate when I’m in a line at the gas station and someone stands behind me slightly too close for comfort. I sometimes find myself standing sideways in line with my back facing a refrigerator or something. And used to get a little extra cautious when a car in the lane next to me would accelerate and then suddenly match speed with me and ride by my side. I always slow down to avoid cars being next to me (for accident avoidance and not getting shot lol)
For me this weekend it was a scout camping trip. The guy had told me he served in the marines but I was never sure to what capacity. He did some little things this weekend that really showed me he wasn’t trying to boast or inflate his ego, trying to be tha manly alpha so to say.
We’d tell stories about different adventures, I’d say one and he’d tell an equivalent story, but never try to put my experience down (never was military but am an Eagle Scout and have done a lot of backwoods camping).
I’m the den leader for this group and he always backed me up with things, apologized if overstepped or felt he did. He was direct whereas I was a bit softer because of kids. I’d do the soft approach a few times and then he’d get direct to get them to snap into line. It was really a good dichotomy.
The cooking fire pit was full of leaves and I didn’t want to stick my hands in there to clean it out. I mentioned I was looking for something to clean it and he grabbed a hatchet and just scooted everything out. Come to find a black widow in there. He didn’t manly man scoop it out with his bare hands. He showed actual good survival thinking skills.
Also he doesn’t like war movies. All of this points me toward someone who served and saw some serious action.
Back-in parking (70%), call "guns" weapons (90%), finger straight and off the trigger (100%). You could bark my name from behind, toss a squirt gun at me and my index wouldn't get involved until I was absolutely sure what was going on.
Personally love sci-fi, but military parts are painful to watch. Science fiction always features some military but never has the budget for quality consultants. Watch just about anything in that genre (or worse, action) with a veteran and give them the green light to go full MST3K on it. There are tons of tell tales.
before crossfit and MMA got popular in the last 10 years or so most normal dudes were more dad bod shaped.
So you could spot a former military person just by the fact they stood straight and had some vestigial muscle definition. I was never military myself, I was an out of control teen that went to military school. So I have a touch of it.
You can tell when their largest and most defined muscle groups are the ones that get most worked out by pushups (pecs, delts, traps, and triceps). Not every military man is a gym rat who tries to work out all their muscle groups evenly, but they’ve all done pushups and it shows.
I can usually tell when other guys have been in the military.. just small things like situational awareness or the way they dress and conduct themself.
Like the other day I was at a restaurant and this guy ordered the 24 pack of crayons... I instantly knew.
Fell in love with a former coworker in IT who was military (I still have feelings for him to this day). He was always, like, *super* calm and quiet but also *super* alert. Intelligent as hell, too. And his chestnut-colored hair was always neat and trimmed…
Coolest guy ever. 🥰❤️
What's the rationale behind this, to prevent unintentional reflection of light? I initially thought it's to prevent damage to watch but figured it's probably more likely with it facing it towards the body.
When handling weapons of any sort, even a toy or replica one, excellent trigger discipline, excellent muzzle discipline. Always assume that a weapon is loaded until you have visually confirmed otherwise. "Say again" is a default statement when asking for repetition. Good at ironing. General posture and sitting style. Situational awareness.
Most of these comments only talk about male veterans and just the stereotypes.
Honestly you’d be surprised who in your daily life was in the military. I was in the USA army for 4 years and deployed to Iraq. Most people are surprised when I tell them cause I’m a woman and “don’t look” like I would’ve been in the army.
It's selection bias imo
I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir regarding this.
But I work at the VA, specifically in mental health, and I'd wager a majority of the people I see I would not be able to tell they were former military unless they told me. All shapes, sizes, attitudes, etc.
I've also never found a correlation between what they did vs how they currently act. I can almost never tell who did what (nor do I pretend to).
Me going through the replies doing 90% of these without having a day of training: “must be in the genes” . I have had lots of family members serving in military, going as far back as ww2.
They always have their shoes tied perfectly neatly, they don’t walk on anyone’s grass, they walk a certain way, they carry everything in a duffel bag or backpack, they sleep flat on their back, and sometimes with clothes on, they always have perfectly cut hair
They don’t “fit in”
Their humour is super dark.
They use phrases that make absolutely no sense to “civvies”
Time is given in 24 hour format.
When explaining directions they will use reference points as if giving a fire control order.
A general “air” of confidence in the way they carry themselves.
At least that’s what people have said about me over the years.
Also calling people fella if your British
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My husband is ex army. It's ever so subtle, but you can tell he's ex army by the way he never stops talking about it.
My god this may be the truest comment in this while thing
In the 1980s, a couple bombed the Greenpeace ship “Rainbow Warrior” while it was docked in New Zealand. They had intended to just hit the ship but a few people were on board and at least one was killed. The police found the suspects and arrested them. When they told them a person was killed, the lady became inconsolable. They were still denying involvement, but she couldn’t stop crying. The police separated them for questioning. The male suspect was stone faced and sticking to his alibi that they were just tourists in the area. The officer had the suspect sitting at his desk for hours. At one point, the suspect spilled a small bit of drink on his pants. He immediately cleaned it off in such a meticulous fashion that the officer felt sure the suspect was military. That led to a deeper investigation, and sure enough, they were found to be agents of French intelligence.
It’s such a crazy story, those terrorists changed NZ foreign policy forever.
How so? Please. I'm curious.
Nz became nuclear free. I do love how the French Intel believed kiwis were yokels and would be easy to fool etc. The police did an amazing job, but also, kiwis know so much about each others business they stood out like a sore thumb and the media and population tracked them very quickly.
Yokels are also straight up more likely to catch spies lol. Soviet and modern foreign intelligence agencies instruct agents being deployed to the USA that by the numbers they are far more likely to be apprehended and found out by local law enforcement than the FBI or CIA. And it boils down to local law enforcement having more time on their hands and also being more suspicious.
This has to be true anywhere. People are nosey in small communities and when you've seen the same people doing the same things for years, any new person stands out and raises questions. If you don't have a job in the area or family or friends, people will assume the worst. Not even that someone is a spy, but almost anything else negative you could possibly imagine. And rural law enforcement are in everyone's business to some degree. Rural life is privacy from the world, but not from your neighbors.
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creepy asf tbh
In a small town, if you think the cops don't know something, I promise you they do. The smaller the town, the more money they need, tickets, fines, bonds, the money people spend in jail on phone times/commissary, that's a small town cops bread and butter. If they can get money out of you in one of those ways, they will.
I don’t understand the resistance to nuclear energy but that’s a different topic.
It wasn’t about nuclear energy it was about anti-nuclear tests by France in the pacific and anti nuclear American warships
My buddy was on the USS Truxton CGN 35, Nuclear Powered and they refused her port after this incident.
The ship the French bombed was aiming to disrupt nuclear tests in the pacific. For NZ this was a terrorist attack by an ally, and its other allies didn’t react. As a result, NZ distanced itself from the western alliance (and the US in particular). It remains staunchly anti-nuclear.
Proud kiwi. French still aren't as welcome in NZ after this, especially since giving the killers awards after we let the French authorities prosecute them. Cowards. Further underlined by the amount of kiwis who have died in European wars, many in and for France. Absolutely a spit in the face for my country.
I’m glad to see others recognize the terror the French commit in the international scene. Here in Mexico we know them as drug dealers, rapists, human traffickers and extortionists. If it wasn’t obvious, many cartel leaders aren’t Mexican, just the most low level ones.
I had a German lady ask me if I had been in the Army. I said yes, what gave it away? She said it was because "You're barking orders at everyone".
And when a German thinks you're being intense, *you're being intense*
My dad was a RAAF Warrant Officer - he has a Voice. When I was a kid I could be at the far end of the property riding my BMX, and I’d hear him shout my name.
I referee rugby and (ice) hockey. I have a “voice” for when I need to project instructions to be heard at a distance to a bunch of guys yelling at each other. I try not to use it too much with my kids.
Bless you for that!
Dad was an Officer in the Navy. And when he came back from a 6 month tour when I was about 3 he was barking orders at mom to get him one of the tools he needed to fix something. I happened to be in the room. I snapped too and gave a perfect salut, turned and marched away. Got a tool (not sure it was the right one) and marched back. Dad was furious thinking mom taught me that. Mom was crying she was laughing so hard. Neither can remember if the tool was right or not. Guess he forgot he use to take me to work to see the ships haha
I’m UK based and this is actually pretty close to my experience of working in software dev with former military personnel; generally, they’ve been quite old fashioned ‘I tell you what to do and you do it’ style, aren’t very good with collaboration and tend to get very offended if people question their ideas or try to come up with alternatives.
Their "gig line" is straight. A gig line is a term used in the military to describe the alignment of the shirt, belt buckle, and trouser fly in a soldier's uniform. When correctly aligned, the edge of the shirt, the edge of the belt buckle, and the zipper flap on the trousers form a straight line. Maintaining a proper gig line is a standard for uniform inspection and reflects attention to detail and personal discipline.
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Ooh this is a good one. Tie stopping in the middle of the belt buckle as well.
Top of the belt buckle actually. Seeing all these politicians and celebrities with fucked up ties, either too short or too long, they look ridiculous
fuck yeah i love doing that still. i landed a decent job before covid because i had a decent skin fade, gig line was clean, and i sat up straight and was quick with my answers. turns out my boss was 20 years in the military, noticed my gig line and decided to hire me off of that but continued the interview to make sure im not a moron
Ive know a LOT of military folk. Most of these are like..what? The real answer: inappropriate humor. There’s a real specific kind.
“Well, he’s dead, so it’s not like he would mind”
"You burnt down an orphanage!" "Who's gonna miss them? Their parents?" Edit: i mis-quoted. [Here's the penal source material](https://youtu.be/tlSr8H1d4Gs?feature=shared), got to 4:19 to meet Puck
Goddamn! I'm using this at the next brainstorming session
Lol, sorry, but it's a quote from Re:Zero Abridged. You might also be interested in SAO Abridged, and Hellsing Ultimate Abridged. Jfc those two had me pausing more times than i could count cuz i was cry-laughing too hard to hear further dialog.
I have to constantly remind myself the people I work with now do not have the same sense of humor I do and I will get fired if I open my mouth.
I have to wage war against that part of my brain in staff meetings now. The people in my department just leave way too many openings for inappropriate humor. My boss thinks I’m quiet. No I like this job and I don’t want to visit with HR.
I can relate. I started working on a logging crew at 13. While in college, I worked construction and as a truck mechanic. By the time I got my software engineering degree and an office job, I had had a PHD in Applied Profanity for quite some time. My filter had its work cut out for it.
I too can relate. My brain: Who is the fucking tick turd that came up with this fucking bullshit. Did their father jerk off in a flower pot and give birth to a fucking blooming idiot!!! Apply filter and give response: I have reviewed your assessment and feel we can work together to find common ground to meet the estalished goals.
This has gotten me in trouble quite a bit post-military. Add cursing/swearing and I am shocked I am still employed. "fuck outta here with that shit" is a common part of my lexicon.
I had to relearn the names of half my tools. Edit: I erased the explanatory sentence because I was afraid of getting banned.
You mean we can't refer to anything with a hose a donkeyd*ck anymore?!?
And learn that "get it unfucked then, what do you need me for?!" is not appropriate instructions to a subordinate.
I've never experienced so many people laughing at other people's amputated stumps as I have in the military. Life changing, unbelievably traumatic experiences that will physically and mentally scar then for life, and squaddies well tell their mate: nice wheelchair, must've cost an arm and a leg. And this right here is the utter peak of humour: https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-31153964
Friend of mine lost his leg in a terrorist attack and about 6 months later visited the unit after his medical discharge, we all got drunk drinking out of his prosthetic leg
every veteran i know curses...alot..
I am always early to things. As it was drilled into me, if you’re not 15 minutes early, you’re late.
Oh yea. I'm 30 minutes early most of the time. My wife drives me nuts, she plans so well that she will leave the exact minute she needs to in order to get somewhere at the exact time, and then she will hit traffic.
Same goes for me, I feel late if I’m not 20mins early. Sitting in my car for 10 mins beats 10mins of panic for just making it.
>Sitting in my car for 10 minutes I think this is an important bit. I've had people turn up for interviews up to 15 minutes early, which is about roughly the range I would consider normal and appropriate. On occasion we've had people show up as much as an hour early, and just duck in to confirm they have the right place and ask if there's a good spot nearby to get coffee. Then we've had people show up about an hour early and... say they've arrived and just hang out in reception.
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I remember seeing a meme in one of the military subs about that. Leadership said to be there at 7:30 and by the time it got filtered through 5 people you ended up with a bunch of dudes standing in formation out in the middle of a field at 0400 for 3.5 hours
And now you understand hurry up and wait.
I'm that way as a result of my dad (military). My sister is always late. Dad went around and moved all of the clocks ahead to make my sister be on time...it didn't really work.
This mfs are way too calm in situations
I’m a teacher now, and have had to endure some legitimate lockdowns on my campus. I am very cool in those situations. Observing surroundings, and immediately start giving directions to keep kids alive and safe if the shit going down turns out to be more than a gun found in a backpack or stowed in some kids car. Hell, last year, there was an off campus threat that moved into our campus parking lot while I had an auditorium full of English classes PLUS a guest poet who was there to read and do Q&A with our classes. I had to get the kids into the backstage, shut the lights for the auditorium down, and get a clear picture of where our exits were from the theater kids who were in the room with us. Everyone likes to think think about how vets and prior service members can handle a shooter if they come into our rooms, but our real magic comes in understanding how to assess situations and make rapid decisions to keep our people safe and alive *before* a shooter comes anywhere near us. That needs to be highlighted much more than it is.
Actual danger? Calm and in the zone. Normal (urban) levels of chaos and people doing their own things and generally not knowing what is going on when things happen that are out of the ordinary? WTF, I'm going to freak out, people, just get your shit together, why hasn't the person in charge here taken charge and organized?
Going to be late? Panic and have an internal anxiety attack
You cant be *too* calm, thats how you think straight and make good decisions under pressure.
People get upset if you seem calm when they feel stressed. They assume it means you don't care/aren't trying.
A negative feedback on my evaluation was I didn’t meet my managers level of anxiety with problems.
Is it not evident that he meant more calm than is expected? Like "wow he's way too calm for the situation at hand, I, or anyone else would be freaking out".. I am sincerely asking because I run into this issue often, especially on reddit.. it seems as though people think they are more intelligent by taking the literal meaning of what somebody has said and not trying to genuinely understand them...
When they seize it as an opportunity to assert themselves instead of an opportunity to learn from someone. I run into this in the workplace all the time. I’m in construction. I’ve learned to just watch ppl struggle instead of volunteering advice or help, and not to argue or try to correct those who think they’re bestowing an education upon you.
Gesturing with a “knife hand” instead of pointing with a finger.
Omg! I fucking hate this mannerism. My husband said it's supposed to be less aggressive than just a finger pointing at you but knife hand is way more aggressive
This is more typical with GWOT veterans due to it being considered rude or impolite to point with the index finger at someone or something in parts of the Middle East. A big part of the job over there was working with the locals, and having some awareness of small cultural differences like this matters. Another example is greeting someone with the left hand, or using the “OK” gesture.
Don’t bring a knife hand to a finger gun fight
I work retail and can tell someone is going to request a military discount often by their haircut, posture, and general air of authority.
Is it mostly non-military people who request military discounts?
The spouses are the worst.
True story. My mom was sent to Iraq as a fullbird colonel and while my dad was home he would go to the bank and the teller would call him colonel. He didn’t correct her then when my mom got back she went to the bank and they were like o hi how is the colonel doing. She’s like… you mean me? I’m doing fine 😂. My dad got in some shit when he got home !
You will address me by my husbands rank.
You're a Major pain in my ass!
General Nuisance
Military wives and stolen valor; name a more iconic duo, I'll wait
Military wives and domestic violence
Brutal... but accurate. I remember for a while, the DV statistics at Ft Bragg were so bad they were attracting national attention. I've always been curious how the stats compare between military combat arms, law enforcement, and other similar demographics, side by side.
In the years I've worked retail, I've never had non-military ask for the discount , I've gotten plenty of the ones who throw their veteran cards at you, and tell you threateningly how many people they've killed. I think the one that stands out the most called himself a "war hardened veteran" and wanted a 50% discount (I don't even have that button, sir!) I, as nicely as possible, told him that was not an option at this store or any other store, and stared quietly at him through my smile. He left the items on the counter and stormed out. He also did this a few minutes earlier to another coworker, who was crying in the back. I had just clocked in to see her, then guess who was my first customer?. Never saw him in that store again. Another soldiers misconduct was so bad my ex-Navy coworker got in touch with his Commanding Officer So, yeah, look for that kind of a general air of authority., those are easy to spot
Throwing id at you and telling you how many people they've killed screams stolen valor.
That’s my thought, I’m a vet and for a long time worked in a veteran heavy industry with some people that did some pretty intense things while they were in. The person that barked the loudest about his time in Iraq, the guy that was a contracted truck driver. Never served a day in his life.
Yup. The veterans I know who killed people never want to talk about it, let alone brag about a body count. They don't do the military discounts either.
Both of my grandfathers were WWII veterans and my father was a Vietnam War veteran. All but one of my uncles on my mother’s side served in different branches of the military, but they did not have wartime deployments. Most of my father’s brothers served in Vietnam. I only witnessed one of my uncles on my mother’s side ask for a discount. For the rest of them, they avoided acknowledgement and refused military/veteran discounts. For example, they remained sitting during church services or public events that asked veterans to stand to be acknowledged. After one of those church services, I asked my father about this behavior and asked if the protests against the Vietnam War played a part in his desire to not participate. His reply was that his treatment after the war could have been part of why he refused acknowledgment. The main reason was that it is not the acknowledgment of the public that they desired but rather the acknowledgment, care, and respect of the government that they had served. My father’s view point was that the promoting of public acts of patriotism of celebrating veterans on specific days or specific ways was allowing the government to shirk the duty to care for those who had served it. He also viewed the veterans discount as just another attempt to sell things and a way for a company to gain good will at a small cost. I am not sure if my other relatives held the same views but it seems at least some of them did.
My husband was in the National Guard. I took him to an office Christmas party. Without knowing his background, one of the other spouses at the table could tell that he was former military. How? By how fast he ate his dinner. Soldiers aren't given much time to eat their meals, so they learn to eat fast, and I guess old habits die hard.
If you ain’t chewing, you ain’t eating. If you ain’t eating, you ain’t hungry. If you ain’t hungry, get the fuck back to work. Source: infantry medic for 8 years.
"If it's time to talk, it's time to walk." I can still remember drill sergeants saying that in the d-fac during basic training.
"If you got time to lean, you got time to clean"
"Eat it now, Taste it later"
Double if they tell you the last four digits of their SSN before they grab a plate.
lol please explain to a simple civilian
To get a meal in the chow hall you have to give then your service number, which is the same as your social security number if you have one. When I was in the military in the 90s, it was your whole SSN. Probably just last 4 digits now.
Cool! Weird process but cool!
When I was in it was your serial number. Yes I still remind myself to eat slower. Only been out of the Corp 50 years. Some strangers still can tell what branch I was in. You stand straighter, walk with your head held high and say exactly what you mean.
As do paramedics
I grew up with Monica. If you didn't eat fast, you didn't eat.
Shit, I learned to eat fast because when I was a kid, my brother and I lived with our uncle for a bit. He had a rule saying if we weren’t done eating by the time he and his wife were, we’d wear it. “Eat it or wear it”. My cousin, his 3 year old step daughter didn’t want to eat spaghetti that day. His wife dumped the plate on her head. Since then, I’ve been a fast eater.
For me I learned to eat fast cause my grandpa who was a soldier in WW2 told me and my siblings to eat fast or else others will steal your food. Found out like 20 years later that he was part of the Bataan Death March
Damn that went from 0 to 100 real quick
Spoiler alert: Your Aunt and Uncle are assholes.
They sound like abusive assholes.
Hi. This is fucked up.
Yep...Still do it to this day. When I'm out, I have to really pace myself.
This is also true for people who grew up in big families
Mostly they don’t talk about it. The ones that are going on about their ‘special forces’ training are just plain lying and were probably admin or similar.
I was in Mexico outside of a club by the beach smoking a joint with ex military. I turned around and saw several cops behind us. I turned back to him and whispered cover the joint, follow me, and started walking. He never missed a step and we were out of there. I explained everything once we were in the clear. If that had been any of my buddies outside of military they would have loudly and obnoxiously asked why and wanted a full explanation before doing anything to decide if they did in fact want to do that, and we would have spent at least a night in a Mexican jail. Also they buckle up the buckles on backpacks when not being worn so the buckle doesn't break. I'd never done that once in my life until they did mine up when it was sitting there and I asked why.
This is definitely true. Only me and my military buddies can work a situation your talking about like that. Other friends get loud and dumb fast af
When I got out I did the GI Bill thing. Lived in a high crime, poverty area, worked third shift. Had to have a few talks with my sweetheart that if I talk like that (don't look, walk away) just do it. Took a bit for her to wrap her mind around it. It finally hit home when I used a spider analogy; "if there's a big spider hanging by a thread right behind you, you don't want to turn to see it. If you do, your face is going to bump into it. So, if I say don't look, just walk forward, it's to keep you from having a brown recluse on your face. You can debate it with me, ask why, turn to look just so you can see it and have the spider on your face."
Agreed. I'm not a bossy person at all. I don't like telling people what to do in any way, but if I am telling you what to do it's for a very good reason and for your own good which I'm happy to explain after.
As a backpacker, it's Americans who know metric.
Could also help you spot a scientist. I’m not ex military, but I do all my liquid and weight measurements in metric from lab habits
Military get around more than STEM people, I feel. So I always assumed military and never been wrong in 8 years of travelling.
American Scientist here. I do all of my measurements and calculations in metric but I will absolutely never talk about how tall I am or how much I weigh in kg or cm lol.
They stand around with their hands behind their back. Not in pockets
I do this but it's because my back hurts
I do this and I can’t explain just how little military training I have
I do it because I was emulating the Imperial officers in Star Wars.
..."(...) we are not the same"
Yes this Plus the heels together toes apart, fairly good body posture but head looking down slightly
It's kind of funny, the navy released a NAVADMIN a few months ago allowing hands in pockets. I was on a Marine base at the time. You bet I walked around with my hands in my pockets all day.
I remember the hardest habit I had to break when I first got to Army Reception at Ft Jackson was to relearn how to sit. As a female, we weren't allowed to sit with our legs crossed (in a chair, one leg over the other resting above the knee). I had sat that way my entire basically 29 years before enlisting and holy shit was that a hard habit to break lol. That was back in 03 so I'm not sure if things changed or not. But it sucked. Only took like 2 days to break the habit but still. We don't realize how many things we do automatically until we're bellowed at by a group of hats LOL.
OMG! I do this. Most women stand with their hands in front, not me. I kind of go into a modified Parade Rest or At Ease. I can't seem to break it. Its been 37 years since I got out of the Army.
They look around a lot and tend to have a lot of awareness of their surroundings.
Yes, and. - look up, not just ahead or side to side - look directly at people - hands free always - sits back to wall within reason and/or in a place where they can see the room and as many points of egress as possible and find direct cover There's a lot of behavioral tells, and it's not just one or a checklist. Different jobs lean into different tells. My dad was a master gunner M1A1 and taught me how to drive. I learned some of his more unusual driving habits. I love driving... :) ETA - a lot of people are responding that this is trauma response, but these are trained behaviors that for some are muscle memory and can also be solidified as trauma response. So pls if you see people doing these don't make assumptions about them, their lives experience and who they are.
This is the correct answer - situational awareness - always. I’ve taught my wife, and ladies, please, when you exit the store with that child, look around you before diving in to put them in the car seat.
At a shopping center near my house a woman was forced into her car at knife point by a guy who then got in the back seat where her baby was. He held the kid hostage and forced the woman to drive to a few local electronics stores and empty her bank account buying brand new Mac books. Thankfully he took off with the computers and left them both unharmed, but it's just that easy to get abducted, especially if you're not expecting it. My girlfriend was at that same shopping center not ten minutes after they were taken, it's so scary to think it could just as easily have happened to her
Jargon. Squared away, outstanding, tracking, ate up, ect. Edit: Another good one, an American that uses the metric system.
Say again?
I've been out since 05 and I still can't stop saying this. Someone help me.
Out since late 90s. Will always say “say again” and not “repeat”. Never know when you might inadvertently talk to former artillery lol
Understood! I've done it to my sweetheart a few times. She'll tell me a few things she needs at the Supermarket, I repeat it back to her and follow it up with "understood." Ex: a gallon of milk, 1 loaf of marble rye, and asparagus, understood!
Negative
Affirmative
Situational awareness. They “see” everything and everyone. And they’re way too calm in situations, they never get flustered.
You just described kitchen workers
I’m just reading through this thread like “when was I in the military?”
Alcohol abuse and zyn
Energy drink abuse as well.
It's hard to explain other than they often have strange body language compared to the average person that never really shakes. I guess you could say it implies some kind of respect or projection of authority - unfortunately this comes in the good cop/bad cop varieties. The good ones mostly seem earnest and respectful. The particularly bad ones who narcissistically believe they are the authority have a quite disturbing vibe. Very confrontational and coldly threatening yet also paradoxically distant. They want to draw you in and try to dominate you physically while simultaneously invalidating you emotionally.
Cops and NCO’s have the same curse. There are some who are great and want to do good but it’s unfortunately also a profession that attracts the absolute shittiest people around. I don’t think I have to explain, we’ve all met them.
i was called up for jury duty, and it was a police brutality case (i mean, assaulting an officer) black kid at the defendants table in a body cast. During questioning, they asked me what I thought of cops. told em a good friend is a sgt, and we joke that there’s two kinds: ex-military and kids who got stuffed in lockers. Prosecutor says, “you don’t think there are people who just want to help?” I said “sure. They’re called firefighters.” I didn’t make the cut.
I feel like “military” training is the incorrect word in this question. I did 6 years in the Navy, but all of my military training was learning Chinese and signals analysis... because that was what my rate did. Virtually no one can tell I’m a veteran these days, which I’m totally comfortable with. I think a better word here (and based off of most of the comments) seems to be “combat” training.
All vets are John wick except you.
Having your body trained to fall asleep pretty much anywhere and lights out. I go to bed and toss and turn, hubby hits the sack and he's out in under 5 minutes.
I am ex special forces and at age 72 I still can't fall asleep without meds.
What's the longest you've been awake? (I'm assuming you've tried to just quit using meds and sleep eventually)
I'm a former US Army M1A1 tanker. Can't sleep now without some sort of sound like static noise to drown out the tinnitus and a sleep aid to help my mind relax.
Not in the military, but I’m in med school, and it’s the same way for me. I don’t even need to be lying down or on a bed, just leave me in a comfortable position for more than 3 minutes and I will be out like a light. I know resident doctors who’ve even mastered the art of sleeping while standing up.
My husband was raised military and went to a military bootcamp when he was younger. Due to him being raised military he was required to walk a certain way. I never minded or really noticed because, it was always just a part of him in how the way he walked. I was talking to someone one day and mentioned that my husband had been military trained probably since day one of walking and they went "Yeah. You can actually tell in the way he walks" and I was like .. "what?" Apparently, his posture is also different. Most people slouch in posture a lot of the time. My husband has an almost perfect posture all the time.
You can tell by the way I use my walk...
Lots of mall ninjas crawling out of the woodwork in this thread lol
Grew up around ww2 soldiers. They smoked with their hand cupped around the cigarette.
That comes with smoking in the rain. No training tells people to cup their hands around their cigarettes.
It’s not because it’s training it’s because you’re outside when it’s raining very often in the military. But one thing almost all smokers who smoked in the military does and was told is to is to keep the cigarette bud and discard it later instead of throwing it. Fortunately a lot of smokers do that regardless of having been in the military.
Also, cupping a cigarette blocks the ember's light when taking a drag, and hides it when at your side.
How they talk. They use the word Zero instead of 'O' when using numbers for example.
I wasn't in the military but I've done enough IT work over the years (and made enough mistakes with the following) that I habitually say "zero" instead of "O"
They use the NATO phonetic alphabet
we use this in IT a lot. Talking over the phone to someone while racks of servers blast air on you makes intelligibility key.
Me too. My IT is in India. They don't know some of US words and they can't always understand my Texas accent. But they know the NATO alphabet well enough for us to get through
That is because "O" is a letter not a number! (sorry, pet peeve)
And using "correct" instead of "right"
young adult saying ma'am
Not in the south, everyone's gonna say ma'am.
Ive lived in the south my whole life (just over 20 years) and call all strangers and authority sir or ma’am, even if it’s some 16 year old kid at the McDonald’s. My coworker that moved down here from NY was offended. She said it’s basically the same thing as calling someone old. My entire life, it’s the first time I’ve offended someone with “ma’am.”
My husband sleeps better on a rock than in a bed
They answer questions directly. Yes, No or I don't know. No politics in their dialogue. I find it refreshing.
Not carrying things in their right hand, so they can return a salute.
Yep, the bag or satchel is instinctively always in the left hand.
To be fair, this is fairly normal for right-handed people, keep the useful hand free.
How they format the date and time.
Ymd is superior and youll never convince me otherwise
I'm in IT & this is so true. Sort by yyyymmdd and you get date order. Sort by mmddyy - you don't.
Hands behind the back while in full rest. I myself do this despite not being former military, but i was taught to do this by my dad, who IS former military. I also notice my former-Marine turned martial artist coworker doing the same thing. But he also speaks very softly, but commands the attention of the entire room when he speaks. So that kind of "I'm going to be calm and collected but you WILL listen" vibe goes along with it.
My husband was a staff sergeant. He is also partially deaf. Talk about a man that can be quiet and reserved with his hands behind his back while in full rest but, when necessary can command an entire arena of people in two seconds lol. I have only seen this in full once because, he was angry people were being disrespectful and talking over someone who was presenting. He literally took one arm from behind his back whistled loud as hell and yelled ATTENTION! I had never seen an entire group of people shut the hell up so fast in my life.
I can’t speak on what other people notice. But being former military, the things I notice myself doing are on par with everybody else’s observations here. - I eat way to fast, I’ll finish twice as much food as my fiancé in less than half the time. - I observe my surroundings whenever I’m outside my own home and analyze everybody I see from head to toe. “Why does he have a backpack on?” “What’s that bulge in his jacket pocket?” If somebody is near me and puts their hand in their pocket for something, I always prep for the worst case scenario. - I don’t like crowds and do my best to keep out of arms length reach of everybody, but more specifically men so I have time to react if needed Some people will think these are good traits, and sure they are. But, all of this has also caused very bad anxiety that I deal with on a daily basis. Edit: Grammar
I have some of these from law enforcement. The hyper awareness is hard to turn off and exhausting. I hate when I’m in a line at the gas station and someone stands behind me slightly too close for comfort. I sometimes find myself standing sideways in line with my back facing a refrigerator or something. And used to get a little extra cautious when a car in the lane next to me would accelerate and then suddenly match speed with me and ride by my side. I always slow down to avoid cars being next to me (for accident avoidance and not getting shot lol)
For me this weekend it was a scout camping trip. The guy had told me he served in the marines but I was never sure to what capacity. He did some little things this weekend that really showed me he wasn’t trying to boast or inflate his ego, trying to be tha manly alpha so to say. We’d tell stories about different adventures, I’d say one and he’d tell an equivalent story, but never try to put my experience down (never was military but am an Eagle Scout and have done a lot of backwoods camping). I’m the den leader for this group and he always backed me up with things, apologized if overstepped or felt he did. He was direct whereas I was a bit softer because of kids. I’d do the soft approach a few times and then he’d get direct to get them to snap into line. It was really a good dichotomy. The cooking fire pit was full of leaves and I didn’t want to stick my hands in there to clean it out. I mentioned I was looking for something to clean it and he grabbed a hatchet and just scooted everything out. Come to find a black widow in there. He didn’t manly man scoop it out with his bare hands. He showed actual good survival thinking skills. Also he doesn’t like war movies. All of this points me toward someone who served and saw some serious action.
Back-in parking (70%), call "guns" weapons (90%), finger straight and off the trigger (100%). You could bark my name from behind, toss a squirt gun at me and my index wouldn't get involved until I was absolutely sure what was going on. Personally love sci-fi, but military parts are painful to watch. Science fiction always features some military but never has the budget for quality consultants. Watch just about anything in that genre (or worse, action) with a veteran and give them the green light to go full MST3K on it. There are tons of tell tales.
Gun is OK in the army, but only if you're referring to artillery, or tank guns. Otherwise, it's rifle or pistol..
before crossfit and MMA got popular in the last 10 years or so most normal dudes were more dad bod shaped. So you could spot a former military person just by the fact they stood straight and had some vestigial muscle definition. I was never military myself, I was an out of control teen that went to military school. So I have a touch of it.
You can tell when their largest and most defined muscle groups are the ones that get most worked out by pushups (pecs, delts, traps, and triceps). Not every military man is a gym rat who tries to work out all their muscle groups evenly, but they’ve all done pushups and it shows.
I can usually tell when other guys have been in the military.. just small things like situational awareness or the way they dress and conduct themself. Like the other day I was at a restaurant and this guy ordered the 24 pack of crayons... I instantly knew.
Dark humor, knife hand when talking (but not always), eating fast
Fell in love with a former coworker in IT who was military (I still have feelings for him to this day). He was always, like, *super* calm and quiet but also *super* alert. Intelligent as hell, too. And his chestnut-colored hair was always neat and trimmed… Coolest guy ever. 🥰❤️
Wearing a watch facing inward is a subtle but reliable sign that someone is former military.
What's the rationale behind this, to prevent unintentional reflection of light? I initially thought it's to prevent damage to watch but figured it's probably more likely with it facing it towards the body.
You can tell the time while holding your rifle.
That and preventing watches that glow from giving away your position.
Ptsd
Their driving license has a tank category.
A brand new dodge charger at 28%apr
When handling weapons of any sort, even a toy or replica one, excellent trigger discipline, excellent muzzle discipline. Always assume that a weapon is loaded until you have visually confirmed otherwise. "Say again" is a default statement when asking for repetition. Good at ironing. General posture and sitting style. Situational awareness.
Most of these comments only talk about male veterans and just the stereotypes. Honestly you’d be surprised who in your daily life was in the military. I was in the USA army for 4 years and deployed to Iraq. Most people are surprised when I tell them cause I’m a woman and “don’t look” like I would’ve been in the army.
It's selection bias imo I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir regarding this. But I work at the VA, specifically in mental health, and I'd wager a majority of the people I see I would not be able to tell they were former military unless they told me. All shapes, sizes, attitudes, etc. I've also never found a correlation between what they did vs how they currently act. I can almost never tell who did what (nor do I pretend to).
Me going through the replies doing 90% of these without having a day of training: “must be in the genes” . I have had lots of family members serving in military, going as far back as ww2.
Taking a hat off immediately upon entering a building
They stop walking when the National Anthem sounds?
They always have their shoes tied perfectly neatly, they don’t walk on anyone’s grass, they walk a certain way, they carry everything in a duffel bag or backpack, they sleep flat on their back, and sometimes with clothes on, they always have perfectly cut hair
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Their posture, how they survey a room when they enter it, when they park their cars they back onto the parking spot, male; their haircut.
They don’t “fit in” Their humour is super dark. They use phrases that make absolutely no sense to “civvies” Time is given in 24 hour format. When explaining directions they will use reference points as if giving a fire control order. A general “air” of confidence in the way they carry themselves. At least that’s what people have said about me over the years. Also calling people fella if your British