Uniformed Soldier v. Military Contractor = both Vets?

Question for the true warrior vets on NCKA. 

The Discovery Channel show Dual Survival (which is now retardly vomit inducing) features Joe Teti, who was supposedly Force Recon and SF.  Apparently, his DD 214 verifies Teti quit SF shortly after 9/11, but then he joined some unnamed CT SMU - whether as a contractor or not is yet unclear.  But apparently he was in Iraq and 'Stan at the same times that OIF and OEF were being conducted, just wasn't participating as part of the uniformed service. 

Myke Hawke formerly of Discovery channel show "Man. Woman. Wild." has a beef with Teti claiming he is a "combat vet" with OIF/OEF campaign experience.  The beef is that, while Joe delivered lead downrange  during those conflicts, he did not do so as part of US armed services.

http://www.militarytimes.com/article/20140429/OFFDUTY02/304290052/Discovery-Channel-reality-show-star-trades-fire-over-combat-experience

Any opinions? 

His dates of enlistment don't line up with OIF, or OEF.....
Dunno what he did prior for the Armed Forces, I'm not a combat Vet so I can't argue either way. I was in North Dakota during the first Gulf War in the Air Force...
But the work he did as a contractor over there fighting our enemies shouldn't be taken lightly. If not for the contractors and their ROE we might have had more American soldiers killed.

Funny this topic came up, we were talking about it at work.
None of us in the discussion are vets.

What we were talking about is should the contractors (mercenaries), be afforded the same benefits as our own military?

Most said no, some said yes- it all depended on how they were compensated at the get go.
All of us thought they were combat vets, as they were veterans of combat....it was just what rights that status afforded you that was discussed.

What say our ncka military folks?

While deployed to Afghanistan, I worked with many contractors. These guys absolutely do not deserve the same benefits as us Military. For starters the contractors I was working with were all making over 200k a year while there. Second, if the shit hit the fan, they could just catch a flight home. All the ones I worked with were very clear that they were there for the money.

Find a contractor in Afghanistan making 30-40k and you may be able to argue that point. The problem is you won't find one.

Funny this topic came up, we were talking about it at work.
None of us in the discussion are vets.

What we were talking about is should the contractors (mercenaries), be afforded the same benefits as our own military?

Most said no, some said yes- it all depended on how they were compensated at the get go.
All of us thought they were combat vets, as they were veterans of combat....it was just what rights that status afforded you that was discussed.

What say our ncka military folks?

A military vet is someone who was on active duty during war time.  A contractor may be involved in same activities, and in some cases may have done more but that doesn't make them a military vet.  If they served during wartime, but discharged and then served as a contractor they can still be called a vet because of prior service. It just gets fuzzy and integrity would play a part in how it was told to others.  Also some missions are covert and no one is supposed to know what happened,  so it may be easier to say you were a military vet to explain injuries or PTSD.

Most contractors offer significant pay and benefit packages over military, but don't offten utilize military benefits.  I had an opportunity to train personnel in Afghanistan for 1/4 of a million a year.  And if I took the money but then tried to get VA benefits for something that happened as a contractor that would be fraud and against my morals.

My 2 cents

Semper Fi

When you say contractor are you referring to former black water/Eric prince stuff of civilian private contractors helping on our FOBs and such. Because our workers were right next to us during attacks. They may not hve had weapons or gone on patrol but they went through a lot of the same

Perhaps they were risking it for the money and you could say, but you could say the same for soldiers. Very broad and varies with the individual.

You want my honest opinion. Most of the soldiers I served with we're shit bags. Famous band of brothers my ass. Currahee. So, I think I depends on the individual no matter who they were with and personal reasons why.

As a military veteran of OIF, my opinion is that Teti is NOT a combat veteran and is merely trying to do what all Mercs/Contractors do... get paid.

I'm not disputing that he was in a hostile zone.  He probably was, and he was probably doing some cool hush-hush stuff that he can't talk about.  But so what? 

The difference is that as a Contractor, he isn't there on his oath to protect and defend the Constitution, following the orders of the National Command Authority.  He's there to pad his pocketbook.  He can leave anytime he wants.  He doesn't have to be there.  Soldiers, Marines, Airman, Sailors, and Coasties don't have that luxury. 

I'm not saying he didn't perform a necessary job or that contractors don't work hand in hand with the military, but he's not a Veteran based on the published portions of his record... he's definitely "prior service" and has likely been involved in life-threatening scenarios but he's not a veteran of OIF or OEF.

I think the biggest difference to keep in mind is that he could resign and be out of country anytime he wanted... not to mention he was likely paid really, REALLY well to be there.

No, Teti is not a veteran in my view.  Too bad, because he should be proud of his service in and out of uniform without having to embellish.  Contractors did/do great things just as military personnel do shitty things.

Kinda sounds like mercenaries.

Actually he is mercenary if he left the armed forces and is a paid gun then he is not and should not be regarded as one.

The difference is that as a Contractor, he isn't there on his oath to protect and defend the Constitution, following the orders of the National Command Authority.

I think the biggest difference to keep in mind is that he could resign and be out of country anytime he wanted... not to mention he was likely paid really, REALLY well to be there.

Not a veteran but current DoD contractor and I agree with this 100%
And agree he should be proud about his service without having to lie about it.

Yeah an oath that half the people don't care about or understand that take it....

Yeah an oath that half the people don't care about or understand that take it....

Say's who???

Yeah an oath that half the people don't care about or understand that take it....

Say's who???

Says me, a guy who served with many who joined because "like, call of duty was a cool video game" or " I just wanted to be able to kill people"...

I guess when I was in there was no call of duty and the men I served with had conviction.

So I guess I can't argue what you are seeing now but that's a pretty bold statement against the military in general.

I guess when I was in there was no call of duty and the men I served with had conviction.

So I guess I can't argue what you are seeing now but that's a pretty bold statement against the military in general.

+1

I guess when I was in there was no call of duty and the men I served with had conviction.

So I guess I can't argue what you are seeing now but that's a pretty bold statement against the military in general.

Lucky you. Wish I served with real men with morals. Can't argue with first hand experience. Not too bold when you spent a couple years experiencing it. Could have been an isolated event. Mind you my unit was under investigation when I got out, but I know a lot of soldiers from various places who were about the same.

Younger generation perhaps? We had ex gang bangers who came in with gun shot wounds, arsonist running from a court case from burning down schools. Hey, maybe I just got the shit end of the stick where in was stationed. I hope so. Just ironic my unit was the 2/506th band of brothers and everyone wanted to kill each other haha...