I suppose I'll wade into this murky thread with my vague notions.....
Obviously at this point we can likely agree that a 'veteran' chaser is many things to many people and based upon that is a relativistic term. It actually isn't a term that I use that I can remember, but in my mind the concept conjures up the notion of experience in... chasing, weather, and perhaps communicating and dealing with the chase community. In particular a 'veteran' IMO isn't related so much to how long an individual has been a chaser or chasing, but how seasoned / hardened an individual is in the purifying flame of Mother Nature's Fury; and how much they have been trained in the 'school of hard knocks' as it relates to chasing. Certainly passion would be an aspect of being a veteran. I can't imagine the idea of a 'veteran' that wasn't obsessed with tornadoes and storms. Probably such a criteria would require at least a few seasons though of experience to be considered by 'the majority' to be a 'veteran'.
In days past, such as on Wx-Chase 'veteran' could also be a pseudo negative term referring to an experienced, clandestine, elite that were often portrayed as 'better' than the rest. They also represented the status quo in chasing towards whom the younger 'whipper snappers'
, Twister chasers, and Yahoos in chasing often rebelled / railed against. Alternatively 'veterans' are also those respected, experienced, possibly historical chasers that have broken new ground, set a standard, played pivotal roles in developing storm chasing as a popular past time for many.
A Veteran is a notion, more likely used by younger, inexperienced chasers perhaps representing an ideal. It is pretty much whatever anyone decides to make it and therefore it isn't really a practical, or useful term and thus why I don't use it.
IMO, the heart of chasing really isn't about politics, opinion, or whether you are a veteran or not. It's about the personal experience of chasing. The individual, out in the elements, amongst the sky, the wind, the rain, and the clouds.
