First and foremost, Thank you for your Service.

You weren't Drafted you joined the Air Force, and the Air Force didn't participate in the Draft Lottery.  Vietnam era Vet, what real horrors of war can you expound on that the American People have forgotten, I'm curious. I suppose the career Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen back in the 60's and 70's weren't employee's of the DOD, and I believe everyone that served had benefits such as health care and leave. You sir need to get over it.

Thanks for playing, Next Troll please ...

Well I have my first FOIA ready for 2013 and it will go off in tomorrows mail.. Happy New Year!  I was going to post up the HAM Radio phonies I come across in this thread, but since other threads are being deleted that address this sensitive subject I wont be, I really don't want to see this thread die out. I will consider posting claims and then what I find in the records without mention of names or call signs, this hopefully will bring some awareness to others in the hobby.   

Happy New Year to all !!!

Here is a link on how and where to file a Freedom of Information Act request for records. http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/public/general-public.html

You need to get a little more info than whats available from a call sign look up and I use various person finding web sites. You will need a date of birth, this usually isn't too hard to get, if its a common name you may have to dig a bit deeper by finding out where they have lived and such.

I recently had someone in a class I was taking claiming to be a Retired Airborne Ranger, Well Rangers don't refer to themselves as Airborne Ranger as being Airborne is a requirement to serve in a Ranger BN, so I did some digging, the name was pretty common, and I knew where he lived in MA but I wasn't getting anything. There was a name in Texas that looked to be the right age and it was right outside of Ft Hood. Well wouldn't ya know it, he still had Texas tags on his pick up truck. I was also able to verify his date of birth during one of the exercises in the class by asking for it during a mock interview. I filed the FOIA back the end of August and again the first week of October but still haven't received anything back, which is not good. That usually means they cant find a record and what I will get is a letter stating that the person has no military records. If that's true it wont be good for him as he used that Military status to get a head for a job.

I never really noticed all these BS artists before and it seems they are multiplying like roaches ...

Craig

I confront them as soon as I have proof, I had a few of them listed at http://pownetwork.org they had the largest phoney list on the web, but just recently took it down as it was getting to be too much to handle.
I still have one that clings to his claims on the air, and attempts to discredit me every chance he gets, but its useless, if anyone asks I just send them his FOIA records and then they know for sure ..

I may start a page for infamous phoney HAM's in the near future, so if your a phoney and reading this, be warned !!!

Craig
 

This subject is something that is near and dear to me, I am talking about the folks that feel the need to embellish their Military career or fabricate a Military career. These are the folks that are stealing the Valor of those that chose to serve and did so in Harms Way, some of which paid the ultimate price by giving up their life. Yet on far too many occasions I hear a story on the air or in an e-mail that just doesnt sound right. If it doesnt sound right it most likely isnt. Its a bit easier for me to detect a military tale that may not be true due to my background, I just recently retired from the US Army, so I have a pretty good background about how things usually go.

Since getting more involved in Amateur Radio, I have heard numerous stories that just dont pass the smell test. Several come to mind right off, one being involved in a bunch of black op's with 32 and 1/2 kills etc etc, another stating he got his Bronze Star in the Mail after his discharge, that may be true after ordering it from E-Bay, or Vista Print, yet another claiming Navy Vietnam Combat Vet, but didnt join the Navy until 1973, didnt know making it through boot and an A School classified you as a Combat Vet, especially when you look at the troop levels in Vietnam after March of 1973. But if you havent guessed by now 2 have been verified as BS with a Freedom of Information Act request for their records, and the 3rd one has been sumitted.
It is all to easy to verify these claims by filling out a FOIA request and sending it in. I have filed a dozen or so in 2012 and so far the ones that have come back have proved the story teller to be less than truthful, to say the least.

Most of the story tellers feel safe behind a microphone, spinning these stories of heroics, but some even take it to the extreme of wearing insignia and such at the Fest's. I walk around a HAM fest and cant believe all the Navy SEAL's, Army Special Forces and Rangers that are into HAM Radio WOW .. I also didnt know that so many of them let go after leaving the service and have become fat loads.

Ok so your probably asking why I bother with this post, well I just want to bring this to everyones attention as its a trend that is getting more and more popular, especially with all the support the troops are getting now adays, just do a quick google search for Military Phoney or Imposter, its of epidemic proportions.

If you suspect someone is spinning a tale and your not very familiar with the Military just shoot me an e-mail, if I cant answer it I have alot of friends in other services that probably can, I will even file an FOIA request for you. If you find a QRZ profile that looks like a crock of crap shoot me a link, I am more than happy to validate someones claims.

Thanks and have a Great 2013 !!

I also have this posted over on QRZ as well.

73, Craig

I do agree with this in regards to people feeling entitled, but its both on the sellers and buyers. E-bay prices are crazy high, I have seen 2 year old 857D's sell for $20 less than a brand new one, are you kidding me.. E-Bay is also driving prices up on the other classified sites, I wont even consider buying a used rig, but I will sell mine to the moron sheep on E-Bay for top dollar !

They want to consolidate to save money, you can bet the budget will be less than that of one of the MARS programs for a combined program. This could also be the beginning of the end, it will be much easier to write out one organization than three in the future. I started to get involved in Army MARS while I was still on active duty, but quickly learned that the folks in Army MARS have no clue, they use antiquated procedures, they seem to think they are some kind of Emergency Response group for the Military, and most are ledgends in their own minds. The MARS program was there to allow soldiers to contact home from foreign locations, I used it once when i was stationed in Korea in 1979, it was a morale tool. In todays Military it has no use, with satellite internet, cell phones etc etc its just not needed. I retired last year after 32 years and I was able to adapt and change as the Military did, too bad MARS is stuck in the past and is grasping at straws to try and give themselves some type of validity with in the military.

Just my 2 cents worth, if its even worth that.

Craig
MSG, USA Retired

You will never go wrong with choosing Legal Limit capable.. Better to have it and not need it than not have it and need that little extra to bust a pile up.

So thats who all those guys are I am seeing at the Ham Fests.. I especially like the ones with the big Silver Badge that says Emergency Communications Officer, then there are the ones with the tactical vest that has the radio pouches all over it filled with 3 or 4 HT's .. Give me a break !

If you are considering joining the Army MARS program Good Luck !

After a dozen or so E-Mails I finally got a response from Carmen Griffin the Chief of the Army MARS Program, I sent him my application in September of last year and have sent several e-mails since then with no reply. He didn't even confirm that he received my application via e-mail.

I am currently an Active Duty Army Master Sergeant and I am embarrassed that the US Army would host a program like this that has such poor support. Its a volunteer organization and by not responding to prospective members promptly you will never get any new members. I will be retiring this year and was planning to be an active member, but due to incompetence I no longer even care to be a member.

Craig

By the time you add the SDR-IQ and the 2000 board for the output, you have spent more than what the DMU-2000 would cost you.

Did you even get a response from anyone at the Army MARS Program ??

I have sent several e-mails to the one listed for getting a membership packet with no luck. Now I am trying the other e-mails listed on the main web site.

To date I have had no response, I have used both my civilian and military e-mail accounts.

I am currently an active duty MSG soon to retire ( not soon enough )..

Anyway I would be curious as to your findings, I am rather frustrated that the Army program is so hard to contact.

Craig

I guess you could have sent the money via WU using a credit card then you could have disputed the credit charge, it would be a fight with WU but maybe they would change their policy.

Western Union is the scammers choice for sure, every scam I have heard of involves Western Union ..

Thanks Burt, but I have the manual that came with the amp and it doesnt say anything about how to transmit the tone. I did however get that questioned answered.

The Ameritron manual leave much to be desired on the tuning, and I have gotten better info from the web on doing it correctly and getting the best results.

73, Craig

Thanks got it, RTTY is what I figured out and I have been able to get the amp tuned up with no issues. Getting an easy 500 watts without having to drive the crap out of it.

Still trying to get a feel for the plate and load adjustments. Seems the load is alot lower than the starting point in the book but I am keeping it all lower than the max specs, 450ma on the plate current and 150 on the grid.
I guess so long as you keep it below those parameters your in good shape.

Got a couple of great reports already so I am very happy, now that I have somewhat of an idea what I'm doing hehehe, wow steep learning curve, thats probably why I love this hobby !!