Spot a Phony

Here are some quick tips on how to spot a fake U.S. Navy SEAL:

• Only three SEALs have been awarded the Medal of Honor. They are: U.S. Sen. Bob Kerry, D-Neb.; Thomas Norris; and Mike Thornton.

• When confronted, fakes often claim covert activities prevented them from being listed in the SEAL database. This is not possible.

• Some fakes claim to have been a prisoner of war. No SEAL has ever been a POW.

• There are seven SEAL teams but no SEAL Team 7. Odd-numbered teams (1, 3, 5) are based on the West Coast and evens (2, 4, 6, 8) are on based on the East Coast.

• Most fakes claim to have been part of SEAL Team 6, the counterterrorist strike force. Very few actually are. The Navy now refers to that unit as the Naval Special Warfare Development Group.

• Since 1983, all SEAL teams have undergone Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training at Coronado Island, Calif. Prior to that year, training was done on both coasts.

• Any supposed SEAL who does not immediately know his BUDS class number is a fake. Any supposed SEAL who gets his BUDS class number wrong is a fake.

• SEAL platoons could have 150 soldiers in them. SEAL teams generally contain 16 soldiers.

• A phony nearly always claims to have known Richard Marcinko, a well-known author of a series of books about the SEALs, including “Rogue Warrior.”

Source: Phony Seal Busters and the U.S. Navy’s SpecWar Command in San Diego.