History Main / ArtisticLicenseMilitary

* [[HollywoodMilitaryUniform Incorrect uniforms, rank insignia, patches, and medals]]. These differ not just by country or service branch, but also by era and conflict -- you shouldn't see a Gulf War veteran wearing a UsefulNotes/WorldWarI medal. Works especially have a tendency to fail to distinguish between ranks entirely, and to make the uniforms a lot snazzier than they would be in real life. There's a common belief that depicting US military uniforms perfectly accurately is illegal and can lead to charges of impersonating a military officer, but this is an UrbanLegend. It's perfectly fine if you're an actor and only pretending to be in the military for a work, as long as you don't claim you really were one when the cameras stop rolling. The only way you can get charged for impersonating a military officer is if you're claiming to be a soldier when you weren't, and using that claim to gain some sort of benefit.[[note]]That said, even if you aren't using such a lie to get some sort of perk and are just trying to brag, you still shouldn't do this. The concept is known as "stolen valor" in American circles, and servicemen of all branches will ''not'' let you get away with it. Expect a public shaming and a verbal dressing down at best if you get caught.[[/note]]

* Too many to count in ''Literature/{{Victoria}}''. To be clear, the author, one William Lind, is a military theorist who [[AuthorTract wrote the book as much to show his ideas for how leaderless insurgency, clever tactics, light infantry and low-tech conquer all]] as he did a TakeThat against all the forces of [[StrawmanPolitical liberalism]]. Some examples include:

* ''Literature/MuvLuvAlternativeTotalEclipse'': The subtitles for the anime adaptation give the TSF pilots naval ranks, with Yuuya and his squadron members being said to be ensigns. Leaving aside that this seemingly underranks everyone in the main cast except Yuuya (who is a rookie, though a talented one, at the start of the series) and possibly Yui Takamura,[[note]]First Lieutenant (''Rikugun-Chūi'' 陸軍中尉) Takamura is probably not underranked for her age and time in grade, but probably ''is'' underranked for her responsibilities. Additionally, a war as long and bloody as the fight with the BETA has been would probably result in more rapid promotions for combat veterans like herself [[YouAreInCommandNow due to superior officers getting killed]].[[/note]] he's (again) said to be in the Army and thus should be a second lieutenant. Ditto the other characters in his squadron (all of their countries follow the standard NATO rank system), as well as [[UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets Red Army]] ranks ([[AlternateHistory the Soviet Union still exists]] in ''VisualNovel/MuvLuvAlternative''): the Scarlet Twins should both be ranked junior lieutenant (''mladshy leytenant'' in Russian) rather than ensign, and Zhar Battalion CO Fikatsia Latrova's rank should be lieutenant colonel (''podpolkovnik'') rather than commander (which wasn't even a rank used in the Soviet ''Navy'': the equivalent in the USSR and most ex-Soviet countries is captain 2nd rank). The titles are actually correct for the Japanese characters, however, as Imperial Japan also still exists due to the AlternateHistory.

* ''Literature/MuvLuvAlternativeTotalEclipse: The subtitles for the anime adaptation give the TSF pilots naval ranks, with Yuuya and his squadron members being said to be ensigns. Leaving aside that this seemingly underranks everyone in the main cast except Yuuya (who is a rookie, though a talented one, at the start of the series) and possibly Yui Takamura,[[note]]First Lieutenant (''Rikugun-Chūi'' 陸軍中尉) Takamura is probably not underranked for her age and time in grade, but probably ''is'' underranked for her responsibilities. Additionally, a war as long and bloody as the fight with the BETA has been would probably result in more rapid promotions for combat veterans like herself [[YouAreInCommandNow due to superior officers getting killed]].[[/note]] he's (again) said to be in the Army and thus should be a second lieutenant. Ditto the other characters in his squadron (all of their countries follow the standard NATO rank system), as well as [[UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets Red Army]] ranks ([[AlternateHistory the Soviet Union still exists]] in ''VisualNovel/MuvLuvAlternative''): the Scarlet Twins should both be ranked junior lieutenant (''mladshy leytenant'' in Russian) rather than ensign, and Zhar Battalion CO Fikatsia Latrova's rank should be lieutenant colonel (''podpolkovnik'') rather than commander (which wasn't even a rank used in the Soviet ''Navy'': the equivalent in the USSR and most ex-Soviet countries is captain 2nd rank). The titles are actually correct for the Japanese characters, however, as Imperial Japan also still exists due to the AlternateHistory.

** The subtitles for the anime give the TSF pilots naval ranks, with Yuuya and his squadron members being said to be ensigns. Leaving aside that this seemingly underranks everyone in the main cast except Yuuya (who is a rookie, though a talented one, at the start of the series) and possibly Yui Takamura,[[note]]First Lieutenant (''Rikugun-Chūi'' 陸軍中尉) Takamura is probably not underranked for her age and time in grade, but probably ''is'' underranked for her responsibilities. Additionally, a war as long and bloody as the fight with the BETA has been would probably result in more rapid promotions for combat veterans like herself [[YouAreInCommandNow due to superior officers getting killed]].[[/note]] he's (again) said to be in the Army and thus should be a second lieutenant. Ditto the other characters in his squadron (all of their countries follow the standard NATO rank system), as well as [[UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets Red Army]] ranks ([[AlternateHistory the Soviet Union still exists]] in ''VisualNovel/MuvLuvAlternative''): the Scarlet Twins should both be ranked junior lieutenant (''mladshy leytenant'' in Russian) rather than ensign, and Zhar Battalion CO Fikatsia Latrova's rank should be lieutenant colonel (''podpolkovnik'') rather than commander (which wasn't even a rank used in the Soviet ''Navy'': the equivalent in the USSR and most ex-Soviet countries is captain 2nd rank). The titles are actually correct for the Japanese characters, however, as Imperial Japan also still exists due to the AlternateHistory.