Stolen Valour - Warning: Player impersonating Canadian Forces Officer

[Kokanee]

I attended C3SK's "OPERATION DEAD BY DAWN" in Belleville on the 30th of June. Aside from being one of the best events I have ever attended, unfortunately something very disturbing went down.

One of the players there was dressed in full CADPAT combats, and while there is nothing wrong with that, what they were trying to pull was unacceptable. Noticing they were dressed with a matching nametag, flag and officer's epaulet, but not knowing what to think of the "designer" beard sported by the individual, I asked them if they were in the Forces, to which I got an affirmative reply. I then inquired what Unit, and I was told "I'm in QYRANG", which is short for the Queen's York Rangers.

I left it at that not wanting to dig anymore - I was there to play airsoft, not police potential posers.... I did bring it up with the game host and between him, a number of staff here on ASC and a helpful Sgt @ the QYRANG Orderly Room, I have confirmed that this person is NOT a serving member of the Queen's York Rangers. Additionally, there is no one by that name in the Canadian Forces, period after a search of our internal email system.

So this is a polite reminder to all players that while it is perfectly fine to get dude'd up in an impression of a soldier from a specific Unit, it is completely crossing the line to start claiming that you ARE that soldier, especially when your appearance brings discredit to the uniform as this individual's did.

For reference, it is an offence under the Criminal Code of Canada to impersonate a member of the Canadian Forces;

Unlawful use of military uniforms or certificates

419. Every one who without lawful authority, the proof of which lies on him,
(a) wears a uniform of the Canadian Forces or any other naval, army or air force or a uniform that is so similar to the uniform of any of those forces that it is likely to be mistaken therefor,
(b) wears a distinctive mark relating to wounds received or service performed in war, or a military medal, ribbon, badge, chevron or any decoration or order that is awarded for war services, or any imitation thereof, or any mark or device or thing that is likely to be mistaken for any such mark, medal, ribbon, badge, chevron, decoration or order,
(c) has in his possession a certificate of discharge, certificate of release, statement of service or identity card from the Canadian Forces or any other naval, army or air force that has not been issued to and does not belong to him, or
(d) has in his possession a commission or warrant or a certificate of discharge, certificate of release, statement of service or identity card, issued to an officer or a person in or who has been in the Canadian Forces or any other naval, army or air force, that contains any alteration that is not verified by the initials of the officer who issued it, or by the initials of an officer thereto lawfully authorized,
is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.
R.S., c. C-34, s. 377.


So I am putting this out there as an official heads up to Game Hosts, field owners, and players in the Ontario region; the person by the name of "Richard Boelens" who goes by the handle "DarkAngel" here on ASC is NOT a member of the Canadian Forces, is NOT an officer in the Queen's York Rangers, and does NOT represent the CF in any fashion.


Richard Boelens: NOT an Officer in the Canadian Forces

So in summary, remember that Airsoft is a sport, not too serious, let's keep it light. If you have PRIOR service in the CF that's great, but it's not the same as being a CURRENTLY serving member. If you are a fireman or police officer, that's awesome and hats off to you, but you are not in the CF etc etc etc... Let's all have respect for our serving Canadian Forces members playing alongside us and ensure that the dignity of service remains untarnished.

[Sha Do]

Thank you for the heads up as to what went down at the event. Richard is a member of our team (though he has been inactive for some time) and I have never heard he state that he had served, reserve or otherwise. I will look into this from our end.

SHA DO

[pugs144]

Wow. Just wow. Can we confirm if he's not at least prior service? Didn't he remember the awesome tar and feather job we gave to Mr. Planters?

[Styrak]

THE DarkAngel, as in this person: airsoftcanada.com/member.php?u=12746
As in the age verifier?

Very strange.

[c3sk]

Thank you for bringing this to every ones attention Kokanee. You're a very well respected member of the community. Good on you and your peers for taking the initiative here to investigate and get this information out in the open. Although I have already been brought up to speed on the details, re-reading them here still makes my stomach turn. It's quite frustrating to see such a level of disrespect being displayed by an individual whom has existed in our community for quite some time.

Richard, what the #($% were you thinking?

[Kokanee]

@Styrak: yes.

[bean]

From what I remember he had once said he did co-op I believe?

[Gunk]

Dude. WTF man. You know better than that.

[Basic-Wedge]

Not something you hear everyday about a member with 2500+ posts. I cling to the hope this is just a misunderstanding... Looking forward to comments from the person involved.

[Brian McIlmoyle]

This is what is commonly referred to as "trodding on one's P3n1s"

[Drake]

Darkangel's Age Verifier status will be suspended pending the outcome of this.

[Basic-Wedge]

Wouldn't it be fair to wait until we've heard his side of the story?

[Kingsix]

Originally Posted by bean

From what I remember he had once said he did co-op I believe?

If I remember correctly it was with the Queens York Rangers as armoured recee co-op.

I'll give Richard the benefit of the doubt, the question may have went: what unit where you with? Instead of What unit are you in?

The Rank badge issue has been brought up in the past, but it appears to be a rank system for the Ceaser's Ghost that is based off the CF unit.

I'm sticking my neck out for ya Rich, but if you seriously where trying to pass yourself as an officer for Queen's york Rangers then seriously wtf?

[mmmken]

Richard is a good person and has a long upstanding reputation here on ASC. I really do hope that this was all just a misunderstanding. He's been on here long enough that there is no tolerance on this stuff.

I'm looking forward in hearing what he has to say about this.

[DarkAngel]

I want to clarify this very clearly, as no-one has asked me about this during the game or afterwards. If people were mislead, I want to sincerely apologize if anyone has taken offence.

I am NOT an officer of the CF. The Epaulette, while showing rank, has a unit flash of "Spectre CMD" (I can provide pictures of the epaulette in question if need be) Which is short for Spectre Command. Spectre Command, is the overall group that contains our individual sections (Caesar's Ghosts, Face Eaters, Wraiths and Rhinos). I sure as hell don't have the physical fitness that I used to to be able to maintain a role in the CF (Insert laugh here).

My involvement in the forces was very limited. Unpaid Highschool Co-op for 2 years almost a decade ago (And of those 2, I spent most of it waiting in line). I have not been in the service outside of that timeframe outside of that unpaid co-op.
I am not a current serving member, and I want to be clear that I was NEVER a serving Officer. I had applied to the Signals as an officer 7 years back, but the operating hours conflicted with my schooling and I was unable to continue.

Chris (C3SK) and Marcie (SniperChic) and a few other organizers asked me about this in the past (ie. Last year's zombie game) And I had explained truthfully that I was not an officer, and that this was a team epaulette. The matter was dropped there and no-one expressed any continued problems regarding this. To Anyone that had asked me, I have stated always clearly, that I am not an officer, nor am I a current serving member. Many Airsofters can and will vouch for that, as I have been asked many times in regards to it. Out of respect for our CF, I WILL NOT WEAR an epaulette with a real unit flash. I will NOT wear wings or armour patches I have not earned, I will NOT wear medals (As I have not earned any). Everything I was was in mutual agreement for "acceptable" throughout conversations on ASC for non-serving airsofters.

I have tremendous respect for our serving members, both current and past and I do not wish to step on any toes. I play airsoft as a hobby and it should be just that. Fun for everyone. No-one should come to these games feeling offended, so I want to sincerely apologize if the intent was mistook for something other than flattery.

@Kokanee I have never lied to anyone who has asked me. I made it very clear and open that I am not an officer, nor a current serving member. I sincerely apologize to you (as a serving member) if that is the implication that came across, as that was not the intent.

I hope that clears the air a bit. I do not hold/bear a grudge to anyone in regards to this issue, and my respect for kokanee and others remains very high. I just wish I was asked about this first in person to give a chance to explain as no-one had even mentioned or brought this issue to my attention. This includes mods/admins/players. I only found out about this thread as several people shot me txt msgs.

A note to the people who tried to IM me. As my AVer status was revoked, my inbox is severely over capacity and I cannot respond to or receive new PM's. I am unable to clear out 1800+ messages as they are written records of transactions on ASC.