I received the link to this video from several readers. Thanks to all of you! The military veterans among my readers, irrespective of their branch of service, will recognize the truth in this exchange.
I think I've met that Second Lieutenant a few times . . . although I hope and pray I never acted like that during my "salad days, when I was green in judgment"!
Peter
An old related image.
ReplyDeleteLOL!!! Good thing I'm the first one in.
ReplyDeleteNo GPS to automate and speed up the process? CyberLT?
I have stories about civilians lost in a small national park, with lots of roads and villages right there, who were on the wrong mountain. They didn't orientate. Nor did they read the trail signs, nor understand how to find north. Nor grasp the point that if you're ascending on the south side of a mountain, it goes up, not down or sideways.
Not Ist Sgt and 2LT, but WO2 mapreading instructor and class of officer cadets. Instructor: I want you to leave this camp and rendezvous with me on the second clump of trees on that ridge in one hour. Cadets: Yes, Sir! The sneaky so-and-so positioned himself in the THIRD clump of trees on the ridge. Only one cadet (me) went to the second clump and then along to where he was waiting. Oddly enough, the others all failed the test and had to restart training.
ReplyDeleteThat is very familiar.
ReplyDeleteOH yeah... Butter bars... Especially academy butter bars...
ReplyDeletePlus 1!
DeleteNow that right there was funny. Great laugh for the day.
ReplyDeleteHouston
I knew a few 2LTs in my time. Most were trainable and did just fine. Some were like the guy in the video. The best ones were usually mustangs.
ReplyDeleteFinal-report message from 1Sgt to CentCom: "Mission successful, though 2LT failed to return..."
ReplyDeleteThis sort of thing always reminds me of an old WW II-era cartoon by VIP (Virgil I. Partch, for the younger-crowd), showing a Sergeant speaking to a Private in the foreground, while a 2nd Looey is walking by in the background with his helmet tucked under his arm, and a very large hole running straight thru his head from ear to ear. The Sergeant is saying to the Private, "No, he's not wounded - you've just never seen a Second Lieutenant with his helmet off before...".
Here's another---
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlGdmJ39ZW0&feature=youtu.be
Probably the best thing I'll read all week!
ReplyDeleteI wore the gold bars.
ReplyDeleteSo did Mattis.
Just sayin.
To quote my younger self, "You see before you today the most dangerous man in the Army, a second lieutenant with map and compass."
ReplyDeleteWatched this this morning. Now again in the aftn. Still in tears, sides aching laughter. Land Nav is actually character building for Sgt.
ReplyDeleteIn the early '60s Dad was an instructor at Ft. Belvoir, VA.
ReplyDelete"What ya doing, Dad?" I asked.
Figuring a 6-year old should read maps and compass he made sure I could do so.
Never been lost in my life.
OK, occasionally "misplaced on the terrain" but never EVER lost.
Good ol' Dad made me look good when I was a ROTC cadet.
Been there. Late 1980s, somewhere near Mainz Germany. Field exercise, Aviation unit. We're carrying fuel and ammo for our squadrons attack helicopters. Green LT, who had visions of being the Tom Cruise of Apache pilots, and hated being tasked with 'ground stuff', decides that cutting through a small village on the map is a short cut. Me, a lowly E4 who was dating a lovely lass from said village told him "uh, Sir? We should stick to the route, we won't make it through there."
ReplyDeleteWas promptly told to shut my piehole, get back in my truck and follow him.
Have you ever heard the shrieking sound that walls make on trucks when you try to drive them down a twisty road that's about three inches narrower than the truck? Not to mention the angry shouts from the homeowners, Polizei, our first sgt, and the troop commander. Note that only his truck got stuck-the rest of us stopped when we saw we woudln't make it. ended up having to winch it out, dunno how big a check Uncle Sam wrote but I'm sure it was a big one.
I Had a 2nd Lt in Korea WHO would LISTEN to what you had to say and accept it as the truth and facts; a GOOD man I would have led anywhere.
ReplyDeleteSpec 4.
I had an Ensign like that on the U.S.S. Henley.
ReplyDeleteWhat's more embarrassing is the case where the 2nd Lt actually knows orienteering and isn't trusted to do the navigation thing because he's a 2nd Lt.
ReplyDelete(That was me, once upon a time.)
Took the senior Lt and sergeants a couple of hours to give up and let me have the map, then 10 minutes in the vehicles to get to where we had been supposed to be going all along.
Not just the butter bars. When I went to the promotion board for a bump to SP5, along with the long list of questions, we were instructed to read a map. There was a large map pinned to a board and maybe a dozen different coordinates listed next to it. They told me to tell them what feature was located at the 3rd coordinated listed. Took a look and told them a depression in the ground. The board ( maybe 5 or 6 officers ) all looked back & forth at each other, then told me I was the 1st one in two days that could read a map.
ReplyDeleteFunny video though. I departed after one enlistment. A friend that enlisted the same day, stayed over 30 years & recently retired an O6. He'll enjoy that video.