Take a quiet moment to think .

[Druid799]

Fair to say everyone on here loves airsofting , for me it’s all about the fun/laughs and generally dumb shit we all get up too in  this community on a game day as much as any other reason for it . 

Now like several others on here I served in the forces and I for one don’t see any problem between these two worlds that I’m connected too but every now and again I do get an odd moment (normally when something bad has happened involving the forces or it’s a particular memorial date) where I think “should I be doing this ?” But then I do usually say too my self “get a grip you twat ! Your having fun your not hurting anyone and not pretending it’s real !” And all’s well again .

this evening I had one of those “should I?” Moments when this popped up on a mates timeline , but a gain I took a moment and thought about this , gave my self my ‘mental slap’ and all’s good again 👍

so really all this rambling crap has been to say every now and again just take a moment and think about the sacrifices of the past made by so many young men and women just like you .

if we do that it was worth it , if we don’t ? You decide .

[Tackle]

Having served I'm with you on this, I was lucky enough to miss the nasty stuff, but trained as if my life depended on it, quite literally, in the knowledge that many of those before us weren't quite so lucky 😢.

Thanks for the reality check mate👍

[Seven]

I never forget... But likely because, like you, I once wrote a cheque of the value up to and including my life...

 

In fact I went to Belgium for a battlefield tour just 2 weeks ago for the first time since I took part in the menan gate ceremony during basic. It certainly has an impact when you're standing there looking at rows of pristine white bits of marble and remember what they represent.

 

Still as humbling now as it was then...

 

 

[Adolf Hamster]

thanks to their sacrifice we live in a world where we get to play our silly games, the fact you occasionally get a guilt trip is a good thing, you should treasure it because it means you do remember and you do respect the poor sods who didn't get to dander home and grab a chippy when the day's fighting was done.

[sonofsammo]

I've never served - I wanted to be a Royal Marine, but when I went to the recruiter's office in Leeds was politely turned down.
I have the utmost respect for those who have served.
It's why I feel embarrassed getting out of the car to go into a shop on my way to pewpew if I have combats on - I don't want people to think I'm something I haven't earned.
I grew up listening to my Grandad's stories from WWII - fighting, capture, POW camp, escape - the whole nine yards - stuff that would make your blood curdle. 
I am so thankful for the sacrifices made. The world would look rather different now if we hadn't won.
What does worry me now though, is that generations are growing up without the stories from a World War.
Which gives birth to a different world view and fosters completely different beliefs.
It scares the shit outta me.
Anyway - I think about it a lot. I'm glad others do too.
I don't want to be a Walt. I just want to play airsoft 😄 

[Seven]

45 minutes ago, sonofsammo said:

I don't want to be a Walt. I just want to play airsoft 😄 

 

I see the military community going on about this all the time, walts that is, and imho they sometimes take it too far.

 

Like they'll post a picture of a kid wearing a, clearly unofficial, SAS t-shirt and they start slandering the person, whom they've never spoken to, about being a walt blah blah blah.

 

See picture (names removed bar my own):

 

 

Thats a step too far imho.

 

In my book, people can wear, within reason, whatever the hell they want as long as they are not actually pretending to be active or vet when questioned. Be interesting to see how the others feel about the subject though.

 

So as far as im concerned, if anyone tries to pull you up for being a walt, greet them with a cheery 'Cheers, Tam!' and walk away. 🙂 

 

 

tldr; Its ok to have heroes!

[sonofsammo]

On 25/09/2018 at 11:13, Seven said:

 

I see the military community going on about this all the time, walts that is, and imho they sometimes take it too far.

 

Like they'll post a picture of a kid wearing a, clearly unofficial, SAS t-shirt and they start slandering the person, whom they've never spoken to, about being a walt blah blah blah.

 

See picture (names removed bar my own):

 

 

Thats a step too far imho.

 

In my book, people can wear, within reason, whatever the hell they want as long as they are not actually pretending to be active or vet when questioned. Be interesting to see how the others feel about the subject though.

 

So as far as im concerned, if anyone tries to pull you up for being a walt, greet them with a cheery 'Cheers, Tam!' and walk away. 🙂 

 

 

tldr; Its ok to have heroes!

Cheers - I like your way of thinking.
When I was a kid, I used to have an SAS insignia and motto pin - which I loved more than anything. They were my heroes (it was directly after the Iranian embassy siege).
And on another note, if I wore a Punisher T-shirt, I'd totally be wanting to be Frank Castle..... (from the comics though...)

[Seven]

7 minutes ago, sonofsammo said:

I'd totally be wanting to be Frank Castle..... (from the comics though...)

 

haha, wishing to be and pretending to be are different though! 😉

 

But yeah, I would love to be Frank castle... but the Jon Bernthal version. They out did themselves with that show! By far the best screen adaptation ever made.

[Druid799]

2 hours ago, Seven said:

 

I see the military community going on about this all the time, walts that is, and imho they sometimes take it too far.

 

Like they'll post a picture of a kid wearing a, clearly unofficial, SAS t-shirt and they start slandering the person, whom they've never spoken to, about being a walt blah blah blah.

 

See picture (names removed bar my own):

 

 

Thats a step too far imho.

 

In my book, people can wear, within reason, whatever the hell they want as long as they are not actually pretending to be active or vet when questioned. Be interesting to see how the others feel about the subject though.

 

So as far as im concerned, if anyone tries to pull you up for being a walt, greet them with a cheery 'Cheers, Tam!' and walk away. 🙂 

 

 

tldr; Its ok to have heroes!

Funny thing is most Ex’s I know couldn’t give a flying fornication about people wearing kit (with in reason of course , does rather annoy me when I see one of our local crackheads staggering around in a MTP smock) but as you said it’s all about the where’s and how’s , you want to wander around in a full op nimrod ct kit crack on I will more than likely laugh at you as it’s fecking horrible stuff to wear but just don’t say you were on the balcony as well ? 😉

But yes back on point just a moment or two to quietly think about the past sacrifices , and that’s your Airsoft ‘licence’ paid for another 12mths ! 👍😁

[BibbsOnTour]

@Druid799 @Tackle @Seven thank you guys for your service first of all!

 

It's nice to see someone post something like this on here because it does remind a lot of us to take a step back every now and then and think about the not so airsoft side of what we're doing and the sacrifices our older generations have made for us.

 

As for the walt/stolen valour side of the conversation I think that, from my perspective, I can understand the frustration that people who have served or are currently serving etc. feel because it goes without saying that it's a massive sacrifice to be in the armed forces and for someone who hasn't made the sacrifice to try and brand themselves as part of that organisation would be infuriating. But like you guys say sometimes it is taken too far like in that picture for example it's clear he's not trying to impersonate but just looks up to them as we all do! However, I think in some cases civvies do impersonate without realising the lack of respect it can show for those who have served/are serving. I for one when I was looking to start airsoft when i was a few years younger was planning on building a Royal Marine Commando 'loadout' because I've always looked up to them (now starting training to get the fitness level needed to eventually head off to CTCRM 😁) and at the time didnt know how frowned upon it was to wear the green beret without having earned it but soon found out after doing some reading on forums!

 

So I think in many cases it can be put down to a lack of knowledge in those who might be wearing a beret or badge/patch they haven't the right to wear, because personally, I don't think it's made as clear over here that it's not politically correct to do so as it is in the USA... 

 

 

[comrade vinnie]

I've served, been on tours in Iraq and with sneeky beeky units and have the pay slips to prove it. I've been doing airsoft before i joined and now its a guilty pleasure because i've mates in units i served with killed. 

Going to the centenary parade down London this November with an old army buddy. It's always at the fore front of our minds. 

 

As for walts there everywhere, plenty of guys never pulled a trigger for a living. Just fucking ignore them, there soon found out.

 

 

[Tackle]

I thought I never had a problem with players wearing insignia etc, until a team at what used to be my "local" all kitted themselves out with my regt's beret & cap badge.

The issue for me was some of these guys were some of the scruffiest longhaired dickheads id ever seen, which then comes across as disrespectful to the regt history & all those who'd worked hard (& died sometimes😢) within it.

[MisterG]

Whenever I have bought used camo with an insignia I always remove them.

 

Cheers

 

G

[BibbsOnTour]

1 hour ago, MisterG said:

Whenever I have bought used camo with an insignia I always remove them.

 

Cheers

 

G

Yeah I see loads of people who've bought surplus fatigues that still have insignia on them...

[mogaly674]

I like many on here before me also served and many days I think about 2 events that happened to me during my service 1st was having to stand on the airfield in Iraq and be part of the honour guard to see one of the lads from the Engr Group on his final voyage home very moving and sobering but nowhere near as sobering as going to Royal Wotton Bassett and lining the street when 5 members of the Rifles were brought home and to see the publics response and respect for the fallen in that small town was something else. 

 

Now in the next 10 days I am partaking in a motorcycling event called Ride to the Wall and I will be thinking of many friends who are no longer with us and gave the ultimate sacrifice so we can play at soldiers. 

 

Every day is Remembrance Day for me.

 

In memory of Spr R Thomson RE

Died on Operations in Iraq 

31st January 2004

Lest we Forget 

 

 

[clumpyedge]

On 25/09/2018 at 00:32, Seven said:

I never forget... But likely because, like you, I once wrote a cheque of the value up to and including my life...

 

In fact I went to Belgium for a battlefield tour just 2 weeks ago for the first time since I took part in the menan gate ceremony during basic. It certainly has an impact when you're standing there looking at rows of pristine white bits of marble and remember what they represent.

 

Still as humbling now as it was then...

 

 

 

 

I remember going here on a school trip back in secondary school. I got to visit the Somme and the Ypre, being around 14 I don't think I don't think I fully appreciated everything I saw but one thing I will always remember was going to an aid station in Belgium for the lads that had been injured on the front lines (this was only a few miles from the trenches) what I saw there still gives me goosebumps as it did when I saw it... so the aid station was nothing more than a small barn type building (I think from memory it was used as a church for some time) outside in a small courtyard type area was a single wooden post behind that a wall. The wall as you can probably guess where this was going, was littered in bullet holes, when I asked the tour guide what the post was for we were told it was for executing soldiers that wouldn't go back to the front.

 

Later in the trip we went to one of the battlefields to look for "artifacts" as the tour guide kept calling them... not the phrase I would have used. Either way we are hunting around for bits of metal, barbed wire, the odd bit of shrapnel, occasional bullet or button etc I was having a look around off from the side where the farmer had plowed and the mud had gone from the field to almost the hedge row when I saw the top of something metal turned out to be a water canteen and not only that but straight through the centre was a bullet hole... can only imagine the fate of the guy that had been carrying it. I was allowed to keep it and take it home and it still sits in my loft now.

 

I've always had a fascination with war and the history that surrounds it, I've been to numerous POW/Concentration camps, Rommels cave in Egypt (my nan's partner was a desert rat so that was interesting to see where he fought), The somme, The Ypre etc. but I'm still yet to visit normandy and the surrounding areas which has been on my "bucket list" (if you can call it that) for years.

 

 

[Tackle]

I too visited ww1 grave site when I was about 14, it was actually unintentional, having spent 2 weeks doing watersports in the south of France with the school, coming back on the coach through the night the driver stops at a little café he knew at about 6am, we all jump off for a croissant etc, only to see this massive graveyard with thousands of bright white headstones, it was just getting light & there were waves of mist drifting across, gotta say it was a really emotional time, a few of my schoolmates (& myself) were cadets, so probably had a better understanding of the gravity of it all, but in that moment I think we were all too choked to speak.

Lest we forget. 😢

[Colonel Kurtz]

I have similar experiences with my career and hobbies.

 

Since I retired from working in IT, there are moments when I'm sitting around in my pants struggling to play XBoxOne against the younger generation when I think 'should I be doing this'. A quick nip to the refrigerator and an in game purchase or two and I'm back in the online battlefield!

 

Sometimes it gets to me, when the anniversary of WindowsXP not being supported any longer comes around, or those nights were I wake up sweaty and scream 'error go to line10'.

 

I think the gaming community often isn't grateful enough for the sacrifices made. All those IT guys that spent countless years sat in basements staring at code without washing or shaving or changing their wooly jumpers so that these days a 14 year old can scream obscenities about raping my noob assed mum on teamspeak while pwning my team l337 style.

 

I still try to attend the latest iPhone releases in my work clothes, and chat with old chums about the good old glory days of setting up Blackberry Enterprise servers.

 

Sometimes Id just like people to stop their frantic CoD or BF slaying and just take a moment to appreciate all the computers and man hours that were lost in service of their respective companies. And not just the professional computers who had a fighting IT supported chance in life, but the countless majority of innocent civilian machines cruely forced to display porn and celebrity gossip until their OS became bloated with malware and they were discarded.

 

And especially the sweet little calculators, some of which were lost without ever being used to display BOOBS.

[Tackle]

1 hour ago, Colonel Kurtz said:

 I'm sitting around in my pants struggling to play XBoxOne

Aren't there enough horrific images in the world, & you've just given us another one 😭

[Druid799]

6 hours ago, Colonel Kurtz said:

I porn and celebrity gossip 

 being used to display BOOBS.

The only female interaction you ever had perhaps ?

the sad sad tail of the nobody nerd , one day you think your an internet god , and the next ? No one even remembers your tag ? So is life . 

[Seven]

Some more pictures from Belgium... The sheer size is overwhelming, we spent hours in Tyne Cot cemetery and only saw half of it.

Sorry for the blur... Not taken with my camera (my battery was dead).

 

[lukeB]

I wish i could retire from working in IT.

 

I always felt guilty that during 3 years in the TA I didnt go on tour. 

[Guest pierce09]

I don't usually admit to still serving whilst playing airsoft. Some former and current service folk think it automatically makes them better at airsoft or that because they used a real rifle they are qualified to talk anything airsoft related. 

 

Some however, are absolute legends and enhance every event I've been to. from an ex SFSG buddy who comes along to events for a good laugh to watching a US Ranger teach a couple of doe-eyed kids how his unit in particular were taught to transition from rifle to pistol without billy big timing it, always makes me appreciate the positive links that can be utilised between military service and this hobby.

[Guest pierce09]

So I've never been to a skirmish or weekend event in the UK over Remembrance Day. Is there a minute's silence observed or anything like that?

 

I did a 60 hour milsim event over Memorial weekend a few years back and the yanks don't do anything for that day like we do for Nov 11th. I did however sit down in the evening with quite a few other serving and former servicemen and spin dits whilst smashing back a few tots of whatever was passed in front of me. That was extremely meaningful on a personal level. 

[Druid799]

1 hour ago, lukeB said:

I wish i could retire from working in IT.

 

I always felt guilty that during 3 years in the TA I didnt go on tour. 

Why mate ? Did you get asked to go on tour but said “oh I’m really sorry but no i can’t go my dogs having hiss balls off next mth so I couldn’t possibly go to war then !” Wouldn’t have thought you did ! 😉

all that matters is you signed a piece of paper that said if you were needed you would risk your life for your country , nothing more nothing less . So no you’ve nothing to feel guilty about .

37 minutes ago, pierce09 said:

So I've never been to a skirmish or weekend event in the UK over Remembrance Day. Is there a minute's silence observed or anything like that?

The two I’ve done they did hold a two minute silence at 11 but you could tell a good few there just didn’t get it . Definitely won’t be gaming this year I shall be at my local cenotaph , I don’t usually go to any events (I like to remember my sleeping mate my own way) but as this yr is the big 100 I feel I’ve a duty to go .