Serving Airsofters; Are We Annoying?

[Stratton Oakmont]

What colour was the boat house door in Hereford?

[GenuineGerman]

14 minutes ago, osteoshot said:

Uuurgh the term “veteran”, how I despise that Americanism.

ive never met an ex servicemen/ex military who used that term. Maybe it’s become an acceptable term now but hearing it still makes me shudder and suspect that the person describing themselves as such may not actually be one. But maybe it’s just me

I get both side of this, I think the majority of ex military call themselves ex military but i do remember the days when there was hardly any recognition of the Armed Forces that there is now so if it helps people then good. As you have alluded to its the Walts that make it an uncomfortable word for people that have actually served imo.  

[Lozart]

Anyone that has served that I've played with has always been absolutely fine and more often than not an asset to whichever team they're on because they are capable of following instructions and playing the objective.

 

All I ask from anyone is to not be a dick and that applies across the board. I don't give a shit if or where you served, if you start barking orders from the back you can get to fuck. Take your hits and play the objective or fuck off home.

 

 

[RonLancs]

49 minutes ago, osteoshot said:

What colour was the boat house door in Hereford?

"What the hell kinda name is Soap anyway" 

[Shamal]

56 minutes ago, RonLancs said:

"What the hell kinda name is Soap anyway" 

He was in call of duty black ops wasn't he?

[RonLancs]

1 minute ago, Shamal said:

He was in call of duty black ops wasn't he?

Nah man... MW through and through. 

[Shamal]

7 minutes ago, RonLancs said:

Nah man... MW through and through. 

Yeah course it is.👍

[TheFull9]

The actual real shit you've done is inversely proportional to likelihood you're gonna chat a big game, ignore hits, get angry, shout at people (on both teams) etc.  I think most people can imagine why.  I say likelihood because I've known one slight exception but he'd just huff a lot to people he knew and quit games sometimes, not actually get real angry at strangers mid round.

 

I think when you look at pure airsofters vs cadets vs regulars at different levels most folks will have seen this to be a trend.  Airsoft weapons and ordnance are nothing like the real stuff so the tactics/marksmanship mostly don't work and if you lose at airsoft it doesn't matter at all we all go home, most people know that, but chances you'll actually care about the game might be a bit higher if you lack the real experience to know how insignificant a little sunday afternoon bb war truly is in the scheme of things.

 

As I think about it, I come to the conclusion it's more down to what you think airsoft is.  The worst players overall I've encountered or see online tend to be far too hard in to milsim, maybe did basic training then left the forces or just straight failed basic, have/have had some military mates who they quote all the time, imitate the lingo and/or or got a like on IG from an ex-SF guy one time.  Either way, the more of a fantasy about the game someone builds up in their mind the more unpleasant they are to be around.

[Adolf Hamster]

7 minutes ago, TheFull9 said:

As I think about it, I come to the conclusion it's more down to what you think airsoft is. 

 

agreed. i think the biggest part is when you forget the stupidity of what is essentially playing dress-up hide and seek.

 

it's why i love people who do the unusual/crazy stuff, helps reminds us that sure you might be dressed up in full military grade gear with the most realistic looking pew pew gun on the field but that won't stop you getting hit by some joker dressed as batman from the Adam west days running around with a single action army because he can.

 

whilst i'm kinda tempted to try the milsim side of things, and i'm game for a bit of mock command structure/team integration or objectives beyond merely inventive ways of dressing up team deathmatch, what puts me off is the feeling that there are too many of the holier-than-thou types who'll sneer because your boots haven't walked a thousand miles in Afghanistan or your holding your m4 wrong etc.

 

of course i hope that impressions wrong.

[Jacket]

I nearly completed TA phase 1

 

[Cyberlawyer]

I think it’s really hard to put a generalisation on this as the military covers a wide range of humanity. I have played with some ex soldiers who have the slickest skills and drills I have ever seen, equally I have played with serving soldiers who were not in infantry/combat roles that couldn’t have been less ‘slick’ if they had been trying to handle their weapon in boxing gloves.

 

By the same note I have met loads of ex military who are really unassuming easy going guys who are happy to share their skills and experience with anyone in the safe zone or even mid skirmish and really do elevate the sport. By the same note I have met a few nobbers that think they are in charge and start using hand signals or shouting out fire control orders and getting really pissed when people don’t “follow orders” (without ever thinking that the kid they are screaming at probably doesn’t even know what a target indication is let alone how to follow it).

 

The one thing that I do find slightly amusing with soldiers that have only just started airsoft is that during basic infantry training the difference between cover from view and cover from fire is really drummed in to you and in airsoft the situation is almost totally opposite and that is really counter intuitive to them at first. My favourite example of this was at Dragon Valley in Wales 20 odd years ago when 4 guys I was with (2 serving paras and 2 recent ex paras) did probably the slickest room clearance I had ever seen at the time (I was a TA infantry soldier at the time) and got wasted by a kid with a Glock 18 who had been hiding in a wardrobe. They took it reasonably well, but there was a bit of eye rolling an muttering as they walked back to respawn.

[Druid799]

8 hours ago, RonLancs said:

I think it depends on the person, how long they were in, what their trade was, cap badge etc.. From my experience when I told my army mates about air soft they thought it was gay af (infantry) but i met a guy from 3 med who was into it and him and his mates loved it. I remember doing FIBUA in Catterick and we got beasted because a screw found a mag in a kill house only upon inspecting it it turned out to be a airsoft mid cap. He threw it to that guy because he knew he was into it. But yea, trying to do FIBUA with simunition whilst crunching BB's going upstairs isnt fun because man, those things hurt! 

The whole “that’s gay as f**k !” Thing happens quite often with squaddies until they actually spend a day on a game site , I’d say a good 90% will say they’ll be back AND they’ll fetch there mates along at the end of the day .

think the thing for near all of them is only experience they’ve had of an airsoft gun is a £5 springer from the market or when they go on leave to Malia or Falaraki etc and there idea of an airsofter is the giant fat guy in the woodland gear meme ! So the first time they see a ‘real’ airsoft gun in action it certainly opens there eyes for them .

 

7 hours ago, osteoshot said:

Uuurgh the term “veteran”, how I despise that Americanism.

ive never met an ex servicemen/ex military who used that term. Maybe it’s become an acceptable term now but hearing it still makes me shudder and suspect that the person describing themselves as such may not actually be one. But maybe it’s just me

Yup I absolutely detest the the way the phrase has been denigrated by the Americans and there over use to describe ANY one who put on a uniform . To me a veteran is the old boy you see down the Legion on Remembrance Sunday with a chest full of medals he really did get awarded , who tells you stories of his time in the war , he’s also the one who it was never him being the hero it was always someone else , he’s the one who makes out he did nothing to be thanked for it was always his mates who didn’t make it home that were the heroes 😢 

where as on the other side of the pond you get to call your self a ‘veteran’ even if you only did 6mths in the national guard and never even left your home state FFS ! 🤬

[RonLancs]

9 hours ago, TheFull9 said:

The actual real shit you've done is inversely proportional to likelihood you're gonna chat a big game, ignore hits, get angry, shout at people (on both teams) etc.  I think most people can imagine why.  I say likelihood because I've known one slight exception but he'd just huff a lot to people he knew and quit games sometimes, not actually get real angry at strangers mid round.

 

I think when you look at pure airsofters vs cadets vs regulars at different levels most folks will have seen this to be a trend.  Airsoft weapons and ordnance are nothing like the real stuff so the tactics/marksmanship mostly don't work and if you lose at airsoft it doesn't matter at all we all go home, most people know that, but chances you'll actually care about the game might be a bit higher if you lack the real experience to know how insignificant a little sunday afternoon bb war truly is in the scheme of things.

 

As I think about it, I come to the conclusion it's more down to what you think airsoft is.  The worst players overall I've encountered or see online tend to be far too hard in to milsim, maybe did basic training then left the forces or just straight failed basic, have/have had some military mates who they quote all the time, imitate the lingo and/or or got a like on IG from an ex-SF guy one time.  Either way, the more of a fantasy about the game someone builds up in their mind the more unpleasant they are to be around.

Ex SF are on IG? 

[TheFull9]

Just one example off the top of my head that's actually public about himself - www.instagram.com/christian_craighead/?hl=en

 

I don't follow any, but most who are on social media (which obviously won't be many) will have locked/private accounts as you can imagine.

[Adolf Hamster]

is it bad that i assume the vast majority of folk who really have been involved in spoopy shenanigans as part of a special forces unit don't talk about it/make it public (presumably with some level of official secrets paperwork in the background)

 

at least until they retire and are far enough out of the game that the stories they have aren't of immediate political relevance?

[GenuineGerman]

13 hours ago, Druid799 said:

Yup I absolutely detest the the way the phrase has been denigrated by the Americans and there over use to describe ANY one who put on a uniform . To me a veteran is the old boy you see down the Legion on Remembrance Sunday with a chest full of medals he really did get awarded , who tells you stories of his time in the war , he’s also the one who it was never him being the hero it was always someone else , he’s the one who makes out he did nothing to be thanked for it was always his mates who didn’t make it home that were the heroes 😢 

where as on the other side of the pond you get to call your self a ‘veteran’ even if you only did 6mths in the national guard and never even left your home state FFS ! 🤬

What about all the guys that have done multiple tours of the Middle East and Afghanistan. What would you call them? 

[Adolf Hamster]

Just now, GenuineGerman said:

What about all the guys that have done multiple tours of the Middle East and Afghanistan. What would you call them? 

 

i'd call them veterans, to me the phrase veteran applies to anyone who's  been on a 2-way firing range.

[Druid799]

3 hours ago, GenuineGerman said:

What about all the guys that have done multiple tours of the Middle East and Afghanistan. What would you call them? 

 

3 hours ago, Adolf Hamster said:

 

i'd call them veterans, to me the phrase veteran applies to anyone who's  been on a 2-way firing range.

Now your both moving in to the realms of specifics , of cource you’d call someone who’s done multiple tours in Iraq or Afghan a veteran , But Is it fair to those blokes that someone who’s done a single short tour in a base area who’s closest experience to ‘combat’ was a bit of jostling in the NAFFI gets to be lorded as a ‘veteran’ as well ? That’s my point . To me a veteran is someone who has endured serving in a grave situation time and time again . If you want to call any ex-forces a veteran I’m certainly not going to try and stop you nor am I going to set a criteria you need to meet to be called it , just me personally I don’t think some warrant the title .  
me my self I served near 8yrs in green and had one small Middle Eastern war , was shot at , fired back at said shooters on several occasions so I could call my self one but I wouldn’t as I don’t think I endured that much (matter of fact I quite enjoyed my little war !)to warrant the title . 
just my personal opinion, same as others are allowed the opinion to believe the minute you sign on that dotted line you instantly become one . 

[GenuineGerman]

@Druid799 to me you are a veteran. You deserve as much praise as the old boys who served in the war. You did your part and deserve the plaudits for it 

[Tackle]

Back on topic 😜, are servicemen/ex-servicemen annoying within Airsoft ?

 I would say 99% of the time, no, but to turn it around, are some non serving Airsoft players annoying to servicemen ?

 DAMN RIGHT THEY ARE , Airsoft isn't real FFS, no one's life depends on winning, so don't cheat, don't be a nasty cnut & don't spoil it for everyone else 😏

[Solar]

The only time Ive found it a bit irritating was a guy who was obviously just joining the army and somehow managed to slip it in to every conversation he had with anyone. But that was definitely a personality/immaturity thing rather than being a serving/ex squaddie and to be fair to him I wouldnt be surprised if once the novelty of joining up wore off he probably stopped doing it

[Tackle]

21 minutes ago, Solar said:

The only time Ive found it a bit irritating was a guy who was obviously just joining the army and somehow managed to slip it in to every conversation he had with anyone. But that was definitely a personality/immaturity thing rather than being a serving/ex squaddie and to be fair to him I wouldnt be surprised if once the novelty of joining up wore off he probably stopped doing it

Lol, probably then failed basic🤣

[DRay]

56 minutes ago, Tackle said:

Lol, probably then failed basic🤣

Almost certainly! As the OP I should have clarified that I wasn’t including cadets, ‘I’m going to join the RM/RN/Army’ in my question. They area almost all walts and deeply irritating. 

[GenuineGerman]

6 minutes ago, DRay said:

Almost certainly! As the OP I should have clarified that I wasn’t including cadets, ‘I’m going to join the RM/RN/Army’ in my question. They area almost all walts and deeply irritating. 

I once was told off by a very young sgt maj for walking rather than marching around camp. Considering we were both in civvies after 5, after I had explained the error of his ways I didn’t know if to take it as a compliment or not haha. 
 

Just to clarify he was a spotty 17 year old cadet sgt maj and was 22

[Adolf Hamster]

4 minutes ago, DRay said:

They area almost all walts and deeply irritating. 

 

you kidding me, i done 6 years in the cadets and that really prepared me for combat duty.

 

as long as the enemy are expecting very shiny boots and a well-tied Windsor knot.....