Real operators generally don't court uncalculated risk or crave the violence and horrific bloodshed of combat, but they are trained and prepared both mentally and physically to confront such circumstances when thrust upon them. In general, a real operator is quiet and unassuming, and prefers to avoid talk of his work with outsiders, whereas impostors most often seem incapable of talking about anything other than their imaginary superhuman accomplishments and fabricated heroic exploits.

In reality, they are insecure cowards craving undeserved respect and seeking to instill awe and fear in those they encounter, if for no other reason than to conceal their true cowardly nature and satisfy the coward's universal desire to be the object of hero worship.

Real heroes don't seek to be worshipped. They don't seek to be heroes in the first place.

So how can someone with no military Special Operations experience separate the truth from the lies purveyed by an impostor?

Here is your Virtual Polygraph or Phony Busting 101:

The "Secret SEALs"

There has NEVER been a "secret" BUD/S class and there are NO "SECRET" SEALs. Operations may be classified, but SEAL personnel are NOT. Anyone and EVERYONE who has ever been a US Navy SEAL is listed in the BUD/S database.

Prehistoric SEALs
Occasionally, an older impostor will assert that he was one of the very first SEALs and, because it was the early days of the program, there were no class numbers. Completely FALSE. The Teams were created in 1962 by Executive Order of President Kennedy. Even the first SEALs drawn from the ranks of UDT went through a modified version of today's BUD/S training at Little Creek, Virginia and Coronado, California, and were grouped in recorded classes. Our records currently date back to the UDTs of the 1940s. So if you should encounter some Rambo wannabe spouting off about what a big bad SEAL he is/was, step right up, look him straight in the eye and ask him what BUD/S class he was in. BUD/S class numbers are not classified information, but a heck of a lot of impostors try to claim otherwise. Remember: NO SEAL FORGETS HIS CLASS NUMBER unless he is in an ICU suffering from a massive, untreated head wound.

SEALed Records
Another giant red flag...HUGE. And purely the stuff of Hollywood and best-selling fiction. Dr. Waterman's Record Sealing Wax is selling like hotcakes! Some phonies claim their service record has been "sealed" or is classified as a result of super secret squirrel intelligence work at CIA or Naval Intelligence or any of the numerous agencies of the Intelligence Community. He runs around telling anyone and everyone that he is a former SEAL, but will not be found in any government records because Uncle Sugar sealed, erased, shredded or otherwise relegated his entire existence to the Ollie North wing of the National Personnel Records archive. This is quite simply FALSE. To begin with, Ask yourself why this alleged former Navy SEAL is imparting this alleged classified information that, according to him, could get him killed or worse. Better yet, ask him, then sit back and watch the color drain from his face.

Here are the FACTS: The names of ALL BUD/S graduates are cast in stone as each and every new class graduates. Remember: Operations may be classified, but SEAL personnel are NOT. Any SEAL who may, perchance, one day along the road of his career, work as an Intelligence Officer in a clandestine operations capacity will likely do so under a "work name" and cover created by the employing agency. A cover must stand up to the most intense scrutiny and emerge as entirely genuine -- or at least as "real" as it is intended to appear. Such a cover will most assuredly NOT be "Joe Blow, former Navy SEAL whose name does not appear in the records of all graduates of UDT/R or BUD/S because the government changed his name and all the labels on his skivvies, but said it would be just fine if he tells everyone he is a SEAL, even though any 3-year old can discover that his story is even less plausible than an episode of 'Alias'". That would be a certain recipe for Agent Double-Oh-Zero, the "alleged" former Navy SEAL, to be found floating face-down along the Danube, lungs holding water because his "cover" did not. That is, unless "Impostor" was his cover, in which case that would make him a triple agent secretly working for the Illuminati on a secret plan to -- Oh, never mind. We could tell you, but then we would have to kill you.

Here a SEAL, there a SEAL, everywhere a SEAL ...
Some of these clowns are so clueless they actually believe the Special Warfare community is so large nobody knows anybody. WRONG! Including current Active Duty and Reserve SEALs, only about 10,000 men have been Navy Frogmen. So, if a SEAL does not personally know another SEAL, the odds are he knows a SEAL who does. Failing that, there's the UDT-SEAL Association or a quick note to us where SPECWAR types go to the head of the line for Flash database checks.

Too good for BUD/S 
"...stated that he was in Special Forces and, as such, did not have to attend BUD/S in order to become a SEAL".

Sorry, but that dog won't hunt. BUD/S is MANDATORY for ANYONE AND EVERYONE who wants to become a SEAL, regardless of existing qualifications. There have been applicants from other branches of Special Operations who have failed to complete BUD/S for one reason or another. NO ONE IS EXEMPT. No BUD/S, No SEAL.

The "Sole Surviving SEAL"
(Revised 20 Sep 2007) Prior to Operation Redwing (see "The Lone Survivor" account by Marcus Luttrell), there was NEVER an operation in which an entire SEAL Team, platoon or squad was killed in combat with the exception of a sole surviving SEAL.  In fact, that remains true.  Marcus Luttrell was part of a four-man SEAL element -- of which three SEALs were KIA in Afghanistan.  The subsequent downing of a QRF helo in which eight more SEALs died did not involve direct combat.  However, these combined events were the single largest loss of SEAL personnel in Naval Special Warfare history.

POW SEAL
No US Navy SEAL has ever been held as a Prisoner of War. Not even for a second.
(NOTE: Recently, SEAL Neil Roberts was killed by hostile forces in Afghanistan following a firefight in which Roberts, alone and injured, sought cover and returned fire for as long as he could despite an overwhelming number of enemy combatants. Neil Roberts was not a POW, but he was a courageous and determined operator who, despite the circumstances in which he suddenly found himself, relied on his training in an effort to survive, evade and engage the enemy until support arrived. Regrettably, that support came too late.)

Vietnam HALO or Flying Frogs
No SEALs ever conducted HALO (High-Altitude-Low-Opening) parachute insertions during the Vietnam war.

"No, I meant I 'worked' with the SEALs..."
A common fallback heard from some impostors once confronted with the facts after claiming they are/were Navy SEALs. Many military personnel have worked with SEAL Teams, but they don't deliberately attempt to misrepresent who they were or what they did. As an example, Special Warfare Combat Crewmen (SWCCs) are highly trained individuals who daily work with SEALs and who are deservedly proud of their special skills and invaluable service, but they're not SEALs and they don't claim to be. When an impostor tries the "worked with SEALs" bluster after being confronted, he not only wasn't a SEAL, he probably didn't actually "work with" them either.

Trained SEALs or Trained by SEALs...
...Does not a U.S. Navy SEAL make. Ask for specifics; Who, What, Where, When, Why and WTF are you talking about?! Unless he is talking about the time he worked at Sea World, an impostor may often use these lines in order to engender in the listeners mind the perception that he possesses the same training, qualifications and abilities as a Navy SEAL. Don't believe it for a minute.

You can lead a horse to water...
One of the more curious aspects of exposing impostors is not the reactions of the fakes themselves, but those of their "believers". Some fakes succeed in developing cult followers who, it often seems, would rather die than accept the fact that their "SEAL" hero is nothing more than a cheap imitation of the real thing. Even when confronted with irrefutable facts that blow big, ugly holes in the flimsy facade of their favored faker, they refuse to face the truth. They grasp at straws, convinced that we are in some way mistaken. They just KNOW that their "SEAL" buddy is the genuine article.

Reinforcing the lie is the impostor himself, usually cowering just behind the skirts of his flock, telling them that we are impostors conducting some sort of "smear" campaign or retribution at the behest of the many wicked enemies Mr. Phony SEAL amassed during the course of his distinguished and highly-classified career vanquishing dangerous No-goodniks the world over.

The more accomplished impostors are sometimes very good at planting an otherwise laughable forest of mirrors around their naive minions. Up is down, wrong is right, black is white ...

MOH SEALs
No Medals of Honor have EVER been awarded in a "secret ceremony" to anyone. Medal of Honor recipients are a matter of public record. Three -- and ONLY three -- U.S. Navy SEALs received the Medal of Honor for their service during the Vietnam war. They are:

• LT Tom R. Norris (Now retired FBI agent)
• LTJG Joseph Robert Kerrey (Now former U.S. Senator)
• EN2 Michael E. Thornton

No U.S. Navy SEAL was awarded the Medal of Honor during Operation Restore Hope (Somalia). Two -- and ONLY two -- U.S. Army Special Forces (Operational Detachment Delta) personnel were awarded Medals of Honor posthumously for service above and beyond the call of duty in Somalia. They are:

• Master SGT Gary Gordon
• SGT First Class Randy Shughart

LAWS GOVERNING IMPOSTORS:

U.S. CODE

TITLE 18 PART I CHAPTER 33 Sec. 701.
Sec. 701. - Official badges, identification cards, other insignia

Whoever manufactures, sells, or possesses any badge, identification card, or other insignia, of the design prescribed by the head of any department or agency of the United States for use by any officer or employee thereof, or any colorable imitation thereof, or photographs, prints, or in any other manner makes or executes any engraving, photograph, print, or impression in the likeness of any such badge, identification card, or other insignia, or any colorable imitation thereof, except as authorized under regulations made pursuant to law, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.

TITLE 18 PART I CHAPTER 33 Sec. 702.
Sec. 702. - Uniform of armed forces and Public Health Service

Whoever, in any place within the jurisdiction of the United States or in the Canal Zone, without authority, wears the uniform or a distinctive part thereof or anything similar to a distinctive part of the uniform of any of the armed forces of the United States, Public Health Service or any auxiliary of such, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.

TITLE 18 PART I CHAPTER 33 Sec. 704.
Sec. 704. - Military medals or decorations

(a) In General. -

Whoever knowingly wears, manufactures, or sells any decoration or medal authorized by Congress for the armed forces of the United States, or any of the service medals or badges awarded to the members of such forces, or the ribbon, button, or rosette of any such badge, decoration or medal, or any colorable imitation thereof, except when authorized under regulations made pursuant to law, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.

(b) Congressional Medal of Honor. -

(1) In general. -

If a decoration or medal involved in an offense under subsection (a) is a Congressional Medal of Honor, in lieu of the punishment provided in that subsection, the offender shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both.

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