[xone]

he is a retired U.S. Marine Corps pilot

According to the pic, he is a squid.

[LonePalm]

Those are CIVILIAN plane captain tabs.

If they were Navy, they'd look like this:

WWG1WGA

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)