I've run into a couple of suspicious types myself. One guy I used to work with who is about my age (late 20's), claimed to have made it through SEAL BUD/S training (including hell week) but washed out later due to injury. I thought that this guy would be fun to talk to as I had just finished reading a couple of books about SEAL training and Navy SEALs in general. Since I had accurate information about SEALs fresh in my brain, the first question I asked him, still believing his story, was what BUD/S class he was in, and his reply was something like, "....uh....like 24B, something....I don't quite remember".

I instantly knew this guy was full of it. One of the things I learned from my reading was that BUD/S classes are numerically numbered only, no letters, and that they are chronologically ordered from class 1 back in the 1960's, to the present classes numbered somewhere in the mid 200's at the time of our conversation. I didn't call the guy out, but I lost any respect I had for him right then and there. Even if he had really washed out, I can't accept that he would have forgotten something like that.

Conversely, my 86 year old grandfather can still rattle off every airplane make and model he flew, every ship he served on, and every base he was ever stationed at without a moments hesitation! Some things you just don't forget.