I've done considerable travel, not in the military, and I have seen too many "Ugly Americans". The thing is, most of the Americans who travel, are those who have money, and, too often, that type has no manners,or consideration for anyone but themselves. I have been asked what part of the USA I am from, and when I tell them, they say something like, "You dont act like an American." I take that as a compliment.

Just for the record, I have seen people from other countries being just as boorish as any American. For example, in Jamaica, 5 young men from England, drunk, obnoxious, insisting the bus driver stop so they could get more booze, calling him and other natives "Spooks". So, why do we get the heat? because we are more visible, and much of the world owes its prosperity to us.