When is a veteran, not a veteran?

Imagine the situation: Two grown fellas talking on a packed rush-hour bus about mental health, their time in the military, PTSD and the one of them chirrups 'you know I'm not a veteran?'. Gasp!

Stunned silence. The bus that we're on immediately becomes tense as we two fellas square off eyeballing each other with the 'he's lost it' look.

Obviously, elaboration was needed, and with this comes the clarification:

Military services determine someone being a veteran through a stringent set of conditions and rules being met.

Breathing a sigh of relief and some furious nodding, its clear that maybe we at Tango Kilo Mike may need to clarify what we mean as a veteran.

And this is it:

Tango Kilo Mike determines someone as a veteran on the basis that they have served in any military or emergency response service, anywhere in the world, at any time, and for any length of service, and they reside in New Zealand.

Carry on, and cheers Marty for the lightbulb moment!