I worked as a veterans representative at the unemployment office for 15 years. If I had a $5 bill for every goof who claimed to be special forces, I could buy a nice used car.
One guy claimed to be a SEAL officer who’d been captured by the Vietnamese and sent to the Soviet Union.
Yes. That doesn’t surprise me.
To be a little clearer on what I was saying, I’m not saying that Dorner wasn’t an officer in the Naval Reserve. That appears to be a fact.
Only saying that in some neighborhoods (like one where I resided during the late-’70s), laying it on really thick is considered to be slightly funny and sociable. It’s cool. “Hey, I’m the Duke of Earl, baby! Come on over to my crib!” [Heh, I’m getting older.] Not trying to make any kind of racist statement here, and that kind of talk was kinda funny.
But sometimes, such talk is mixed with more serious matters for effect. Dorner might have been stretching certain details about training more often seen in infantry-related MOSs, weapons that he has, etc. BTW, he might more effectively hide in a heavily populated, built-up area than in the boonies, too. Many have.