How to get veteran dog tags

OP your friend has played previous battlefield games that is why he has veteran status, have you played any Battlefield games beside Battlefield 3?  I asked because veteran status is calculated by taking the total number of Battlefield games played and subtracting 1 (i.e. if you played Bad Company2 and Battlefield 3 your veteran status would be 2-1=1, if you have only played Battlefield 3 it is 1-1=0 or no veteran status) because you are only a Battlefield game after playing more than one game - veteran status is not dependent on rank so your friend being a rank 30 and you being a Colonel 19 has nothing to do with it. 

The easiset way to automatically update your veteran status is to play the Battlefield games while logged in with your Origin account - this will automatically update your status.  The veteran page that Nooberis referred you to is the next best way, for newer PC\Console releases it will automatically update when you hit "refresh veteran status" or play the games while logged in with your origin account.  On the lower part of the page you can enter the CD keys for the older PC only games by clicking on the game's icon.

If you do not qualify for veteran status and are asking just to get access to the "veteran weapon" the M1911 pistol go here:  http://gunclub.ea.com/us/mygunclub and sign in with your origin account that you are using on Battlefield and you will get access to the M1911 via the EA Gun Club promotion.