[AmishDude]

From the article: was the TSA supervisor told him he was a lieutenant in the Army but refused to show any proof of this claim.

So? He was trying to placate the guy, but the Sgt. decided to be even more confrontational. I wonder if the TSA supervisor was responding to Sgt. England in the same way he would have said, "Well, I'm Commissioner Gordon" if England had asserted that he was Batman.

[DJ MacWoW]

He was trying to placate the guy,

An assumption. Which doesn't lineup with your post 112. I think she was probably being snarky