Help with ID of a picture

[RVTECH]

Long shot but can anyone possibly ID the flags in this picture and MAYBE take a guess as to where this MIGHT be based on the appearance of the structure? Thanks!

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[Nosferatu]

Earth.

 

[MTpockets]

353rd CACOM welcomes new commanding general

Maj. Gen. Daniel Ammerman (left front), commanding general of the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Affairs Operations Command (Airborne), and Brig. Gen. Glenn Goddard (right front), commanding general of the 353rd Civil Affairs Command, march to inspect the troops as members of the...

www.dvidshub.net

353d Civil Affairs Command

The 353rd Civil Affairs Command organizes, trains, and equips assigned Civil Affairs forces to mobilize, deploy, and conduct civil military operations. On order, the 353rd Civil Affairs Command organizes, trains, and equips assigned Civil Affairs forces to mobilize, deploy, conduct civil...

military-history.fandom.com

Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island, NY

Detailed History of Fort Wadsworth - Gateway National Recreation Area (U.S. National Park Service)

home.nps.gov

___________________________________________________________________________________________________
***Edit to Add information on International Romance Scam Operations***
***In many instances, these are not individual scammers, but rather criminal organizations.***

How Myanmar Became a Global Center for Cyber Scams | Council on Foreign Relations

Organized crime groups in Southeast Asia have seized on Myanmar’s instability amid civil war to establish a string of scam centers engaged in global online fraud operations.

www.cfr.org

"The trafficked workers typically contact their victims—most of whom reside in the United States or China—through text or online messaging apps and engage in elaborate attempts to develop close relationships with them and swindle them into fraudulent investments, such as phony cryptocurrencies. The scam is commonly known as "pig butchering"—which refers to fattening a pig before slaughter. A recent study found that between 2020 and 2024, victims worldwide lost approximately $75 billion to the Southeast Asian–based cyber scams. In the United States, Americans lost an estimated $2.6 billion in 2022 to pig butchering and other cryptocurrency fraud, according to the FBI."

China court sentences 11 members of Myanmar-based crime syndicate to death

A court in China has sentenced 11 people to death for their roles in a family-run crime syndicate that ran a gambling operation worth $1.4 billion and for killing disobedient workers.

apnews.com

"The centers, in which criminals run sophisticated online scams targeting people all over the world, have proliferated in countries in Southeast Asia, including Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia. They often use trafficked workers who are forced to conduct romance-based investment scams as part of a globalized industry that the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates is worth $40 billion annually.

China is cracking down on scam centers in the region through joint operations or coordinating with local police forces. In February, China, Myanmar and Thailand exerted pressure on scam centers located along the Thai-Myanmar border, resulting in the release of more than 7,000 workers, most of whom were Chinese citizens."

 

[RVTECH]

@MTpockets. Thank you! I was unaware of this dvids site.

 

[RVTECH]

'Shortest' story on this.

Last night A friend of mine told me she had been texting with a "Commanding General' in Syria on FB for about a year. Just chit chat nothing more.

Ok, I ask her a few questions and the 'skeptic' in me tells her to ask the guy a couple questions - first if he is 'P-38' qualified (not the gun or plane) and 2ndly, what is his current MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) is and any others he may have.

OK, so 'he' responds to her and easily answers the P-38 question but then gets really wishy washy about the MOSs, BS's about what he did and now does but never any specific MOS codes or numbers. AND 'his' response appears about as AI - ish as it gets.

OK, so she sends me two pics (that HE sent her) and the first is the one I posted and a 2nd is of the 'supposed' guy in uniform - but he has a Lieutenant Colonel rank symbol on his helmet and NOT that of a General.

Ok, so I post the pic and MTPockets gets an ID on it. He posted it and it's taken in 2014 in NY. I tried Google image search but didn't get an ID on it.

Now the guys pic she sent me is the same LAST name as the General in the NY pic so it could have been him younger and PRIOR to him becoming a General.

A little more searching revealed this is a common scam and I even found a few sites where people (women) had posted about this - One on a legal assistance site said, 'A person claiming to be Brigadier General Andrew Goddard is claiming to be in Syria and wants to ship his personal effects to me' Which is dang near verbatim what he/it sent to my friend - minus the shipping stuff part.

Anyway I am glad to have helped my friend. I am waiting for her call so I can explain it all to her but she has a heads up as I texted her what I saw and that it obviously is a scam.

 

[Cavedweller]

Was the alleged scammer asking for money for something (e.g. shipping of personal effects)?

 

[RVTECH]

Was the alleged scammer asking for money

Not yet - or my friend kept that to herself....

 

[AshWilliams]

Our AI overlords also observed:

The soldiers are wearing the older Army Combat Uniform (ACU) in the Universal Camouflage Pattern (the gray-green "digital" camo), which was standard roughly 2005–mid-2010s before being replaced by OCP.

That puts the photo somewhere around the mid-2000s to mid-2010s.

 

[JustShoot]

Long shot but can anyone possibly ID the flags in this picture and MAYBE take a guess as to where this MIGHT be based on the appearance of the structure? Thanks!

View attachment 2198499

Is that Jean-Claude Van Damme on the Left ?
.

 

[Fishrite]

Some people are so good at scamming and ripping people off. If they applied that amount of effort into a real job or profession they might succeed in doing something good with their life.

 

[titsonritz]

Earth.

My first thought.

 

[1911Fanatic]

Some people are so good at scamming and ripping people off. If they applied that amount of effort into a real job or profession they might succeed in doing something good with their life.

Yeah, but some people, especially women, are dumb enough to fall for this bubblegume. Desperate women that think, "oh, this man is going to eventually solve all of the problems I have."

Unattractive youngish women, and older once attractive women are easy targets for this kind of stuff.

Supposed "women" do similar scams on men as well. Just the icing on that cake is different. Ugly fat guys with no prospects that try to send money to "women" in third world countries hoping to get a wife out of the deal are just as dumb.

I had a neighbor about 30 years ago that basically bought a bride from a third world country. He beat her and controlled her. Until she became a citizen. Then she sued him and took him to the cleaners.

 

[GrayGoose]

Yeah, but some people, especially women, are dumb enough to fall for this bubblegume. Desperate women that think, "oh, this man is going to eventually solve all of the problems I have."

Unattractive youngish women, and older once attractive women are easy targets for this kind of stuff.

Supposed "women" do similar scams on men as well. Just the icing on that cake is different. Ugly fat guys with no prospects that try to send money to "women" in third world countries hoping to get a wife out of the deal are just as dumb.

I had a neighbor about 30 years ago that basically bought a bride from a third world country. He beat her and controlled her. Until she became a citizen. Then she sued him and took him to the cleaners.

People suck.

 

[RVTECH]

Supposed "women" do similar scams on men as well. Just the icing on that cake is different. Ugly fat guys with no prospects that try to send money to "women" in third world countries hoping to get a wife out of the deal are just as dumb.

Yes they do and I have seen it 'somewhat' first hand.

Several years ago more less as a 'joke' to myself I tried an 'online dating' site.

OK, I got a fair amount of contacts, actually met two local gals off it, went out for a casual lunch with one, breakfast with another, nothing serious however I would occasionally get a contact from a 'gal' who looked half (or less) my age, looked like a model and (of course) posted a very sensual and provocative response. Those were a quick and easy delete.

On the 'down side' I would occasionally get responses from what sounded like very lonely, insecure and 'needy' women. Very 'apologetic' with their responses, almost with a 'hopeful' undertone.

I gave this up entirely almost as quickly as I started......

 

[OlegTheRussian]

Everyone in that picture needs boot to azz therapy for those chewed up beret's .
Looks like a bunch of goddamn domino pizza delivery drivers.