It seems alot of us here have servered in the military at one point. I was wondering who remembers sum of the "things" done by Second Lieutenants or the Ensins(sp)? No names please.

I'll start. The one of many 2Lt moments for me was: one day while at my battalion HQ I had an itch in my ear, So I was cleaning out ear wax with a bent paper clip, and got it stuck in my ear. Stayed in the building for two hours trying to get it out.

more moments to follow.

Had a 2LT plt leader who lost his weapon during an FTX kept half the 3rd ID in the field for an extra day before we found it. butter bars!

As an ROTC cadet, this is a posting that I'll keep my eye on, if for no other reason then to attempt to remember things not to do.

I've done some dumb things already, but nothing that warrants more than a story told over a beer the night after it happened.

Jeff

The Monday following our commisioning, my best friend and I POVed down to Ft. Dix to assist our ROTC battalion in preparing the 3rd year cadets for camp. When we arrived at what we thought was our assigned TAC area, we did not recognize anyone. When we stepped out of the POV, the SFC in charge of the training unit came up, saluted us and asked if we needed help. My friend and I looked at each other as if to ask, "Who the heck is he saluting?" Then we realized, "Oh s*&t, it's US!!!" We sheepishly returned the salted and profusely apologized...the SFC laughed out loud!

Jeff good luck with your career, But some advice from one who served both enlisted and commissioned (ten and seventeen years), I too figured I,d not make to many 2lt mistakes, but trust me if thier is a book with all possible 2Lt " moments" I must have added two chaptres to it myself. Take them in stride and learn from them. Honestly this is why we the rank.

I've had that problem too...not as a 2LT obviously, but as a cadet LT. When I went down to Camp Atterbury for our Ranger Challenge competition. Because I couldn't compete - though I'd trained a whole semester to - I went down there as part of the support section to help assist the competition. Unless you have a higher cadet rank, you wear a cadet LT rank - a silver dot. This is only a problem because enlisted soldiers see a shiny rank and know that no enlisted rank is shiny so they salute the rank. Weird as heck wondering who they are saluting, because we don't have as rigid military dicipline as other universities do - a blessing and a curse if you ask me.

Anthony, thanks, I hope for the best, but I have a motto that if I don't make an @$$ of myself at least once a day, then it is not a normal day. I have many normal days .

Jeff

I had a Lt In iraq that insisted that he trained my PFC gunner in how to mantain the shotgun that was assigned to him. So after breaking the weapon down he had my gunner clean the shotgun. Upon completion he tried to put the shotgun back together two hours later he asked me for help after blaming bent parts on his failure! My SFC ended up helping him put it back together that was followed by private shotgun classes to help the LT.

This was the same LT that would carry his M9 pistol in his hand every where outside of the compound and would direct his soldiers by pointing to them with his M9 Pistol. Not menacing at all just him forgeting what he held.

I'm not sure if this qualified for a 2LT moment, but it comes close...
I served as an army musician for 6 years. One of our regular assignments was to play for officer cadet commissioning parades. Once, this cadet comes up to us during a rehearsal break telling us that we weren't playing our music in time to the cadets' marching. seems no one told him that he was supposed to march in step to the music...this was 2 days before he was going to be made a 2LT. If he can't listen to the music will he listen to his men? hmmmm....

Lim: yes that is trully a 2lt moment!! I know when I was one, listing to music was about the only thing my men could say i did right.

My advice to any future 2nd Lts. who may be reading this would be
-Keep your mouth shut
-Listen to you NCO's
-Work for your troops - not the other way around
-Try not to get anyone killed to the best of your ability
- Learn how to be a hard-ass.... in the end it will keep your troops alive

Best wishes,
Whiskey6

My story, 1st year as Ensign (only 1 year after graduating from Naval Academy, 1st comission aboard a ship). I was division officer in a Chilean Navy destroyer. Only been in the ship for a month. Young, naive and impetuous...

The XO was giving orders during an officer´s meeting about painting some sections of the ship for an official visit of some civilian authorities and some admirals....but I was been relieved from duty, so I missed the most important part of the information: which divisions had to paint what!

Needless to say that, been late for the meeting, only hear that the paint job has to be finished in 2 days, so I called my senior NCO and started the job ASAP....after painting 50% of my division´s assigned sector, the XO walked through that specific area (shared with other 2 divisions) and called me, informing that my division wasn´t supposed to paint any thing AT ALL! But the work was so advanced that the other 2 divisions had to start painting their sectors too.

As you can imagine, the respective Officers and Personal weren´t pleased at all...and both of them were MUCH senior than me, so it took me almost a month to rebuild the good relations with them. :-) And, all the Officers aboard had a good laugh at my expense for almost 2 weeks.

Lesson? Not just hear your NCO (vital), also ASK senior Officers if you haven´t been on meeting where instructions and orders have been issued. For your mental and physical sake :-)

Guess I learn the lesson, since haven´t happened to me anything like this again...

Cheers

One moring whiel I was walking to my ship in Norfolk I heard someone walking behind me. It was a young Ensign. He walked past me, turned, gave a quick salute, and say "Good morning Sir." I was shocked since I was an E4 at the time. I was not in uniform at the time. But I did have on my jacket from the technical college I went to. It says MIT on the back. He must have tought it was The Mass Instutue of Tech. I said 'Good mornig back to him."

Later that day after I was in my working uniform I saw the same Ensign again. I gave him a nice crisp salute and a good afternoon sir. He looked at me and said, "Yeah sure."

Ensign-noun: the Navy's way of entertaining senior officers and senior petty and warrant officers at low cost while underway.
slang: meaning "lost between compartments"
slang: meaning screwed up.... "well the chief really ensigned this assignment"

You cant spell LOST with out LT

That is so true. We had a mustang Ensign and he was always falling all over himself to do the right thing. I wonder if it was him or the rank. I just don't know how he would have been as a Master Chief.

i was the sound powered phone opperator on the forecastle on an FFG . as we were pulling up along side a DDG in Darwin Austraillia i noticed that we were coming in a little too fast so i mentioned it to he pilot house . of course we didnt slow down and hit the DDG . messed up some paint and ripped off a couple of scuppers. an hour later as we were going on shore leave the ensign was hanging from a bos'n chair painting both ships. we all had a good laugh , him included. his blunder was eclipsed later on that week when the DDG that we were moored to was going back to home port in Japan . we manned the lines to let the ship out because we were moored to it , and it was moored to the pier . anywho as he DDG was leaveing it ran aground and took 4 hours to get out of the sand bar . of course we were already on shore leave for 3 of hose 4 hours .

A couple of years ago I was attached to one of the Guards Regiments and we were equipped with Saxon APCs (with very poor visibility for the driver).Whilst travelling in convoy to an exercise area we all pulled into a service station to refuel. We all lined up mixed in with civilian cars and waited for a free pump. The 2nd Lt who was leading our packet had already put us behind schedule saw a frre pump in a different lane, so told his driver to start reversing and change lanes. The little civvy car behind realised the Lt hadn't seen them and started beeping thier horn. The Saxon stopped reversing and the guy stopped beeping his horn. The Lt then instructed his driver to again reverse, which he did and the civvy driver again started to beep his horn. The Lt ignored the beeping until he felt a bump but by then had well crushed the car behind.
When asked why he had ignored the beeping horn he replied that
"...the beeping only occured when I reversed so I assumed it was a reverse warning signal fitted to my vehicle...."

Lesson to learn a) Know how the equipment you are controlling actually works.
b) Assume makes an ASS out of U and ME
+ = +

You'r so right about equipment. While in Germany I was task to perpare a M577 command vehical for transfer to a medical unit. spent a day and a half looking for the turn signals.

My platoon commander once said this to me..
"The officer mess is a place where the "crabs" (Major and above ie:- most commonwealth countries have coat of arms as the senior officer rank) eat all the chocolate bars (2LT,LTA, CPT)"
Just like the MAster Sergeant who has a roof over his Chevron SGT rank picking on the SGTs without a "roof" over their lower chevron..

we were in Vermont a few years ago training with some mountain warfare troops ( us ) and our 2 Lt wanted to show off his climbing skills . the yanks had an a frame and pulley at the top of a 50 meter rock face as you climbed a guy would take up the slack . our 2 Lt said he wanted to go up ( in his words ) sharpish , so we talked to one of the Sgt ,s Stalins was his name about our plan he smiled winks and OK,d it as the 2 Lt started to climb we hooked the rope to the back of a hummer and told the driver to go for it which he duly did . JEEZ he came up that rock face like a monkey up a banana tree, the screaming started at about 5 metres and didn't stop until we got him out of the harness. 2nd Lt,s you gotta love em ! ( no one else does )

I was on staff duty at squadron HQ and went to visit my wife who was also on staff duty at Brigade HQ at Ft. Knox. Two butterbars went to her building for a never determined reason. They went to a door clearly posted with a sign to go to the other side of the building because this door is locked after hours. They shook the door setting off the alarm. My wife, a Staff Sergeant, stuck her head out the window and put them both into the position of attention while she turned off the alarm. This is when I walked up hearing the alarm and finding two butterbars standing at attention. My curiostiy got me, and I asked them why they were standing outside brigade HQ after midnight, at attention. They said a mean little sergeant made them stand there at attention. I asked them "Lieutenat, does that sergeant outrank you?" They stood there for a few more seconds, then looked at each other, then took off running. My wife came out of the building laughing her head off.

Just prior to me coming home for Christmas exodus a couple weeks ago, we had to sit through an endless set of safety and security briefings as battalion. Because this is an AIT battalion, it is larger than most battalions so the briefing was packed.

Once the entire thing got done, everyone made a beeline out the door to get on the mass of buses waiting for us. Each of my company's platoon sergeants were counting Charlie company soldiers onto the buses - 40 each - and then they were full. I got on my bus, but we confused the sergeant when she stopped her count at 32, but the bus was full.

She - a former drill sergeant - jumped into the bus and in her best 'authority' voice asked, "Is everyone on this bus from Charle Company?" But she asked it the wrong way. 32 people said yes in our best Private voices. Barely heard in the back were some "no's". At this point, the Drill Sergeant deep within got the best of her, "THIS BUS IS FOR CHARLIE COMPANY SOLDIERS ONLY, IF YOU ARE NOT IN CHARLIE COMPANY, GET OFF THE BUS NOW!!!"

From the back, walked 8 second lieutenants fresh out of OBC looking chastined. Once she realized her mistake, she instantly started saying, "I'm sorry sir, sir, ma'am, sir. I hope you understand, I'm sorry, my apologies sir." However I couldn't help but notice the way she said it indicated her true feelings, "My bad...get the hell off my bus." I laughed pretty hard once they all - lieutenant and sergeant - got off the bus.


Jeff

heh... a 2lt may outrank a Staff Sergeant, however there are very few 2lts that will have the balls to give one an order.

I once saw a 2lt go face first into a deep pile of mud made by a 6x truck. He tried to walk through the ridge made by the tires instead of just stepping into the little puddle of muddy water that the tires made. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house.

while stationed 1/29th at ft benning as a spec. the bn support the basic training with the cadra not drill sargents. While going thru EIB course a pair 2nd Lt.had to be a year out of west point was so lost on the map reading course It took us about 8 hrs to find them turned out that the crossed over into a range across the road from the range they were supose to be in. I found them arguing about which direction they should go they both were wrong

John: I feel your pain. As a young 2Lt. with 6/29 fa bn In Germany, many times a year we'd travel from our post to Balmholder (a whole 18miles away). There was only one way to get there and I always seemed to miss the turn. Has to to be something they do when your commissioned (like screw with your since of direction), all I know is while I was enlisted I knew exactlly where I was at any given time.