Posted on Jan 27, 2016
What are your biggest "Lieutenant mistakes" that you made as a Lieutenant?
88.3K
734
175
27
27
0
So i was hoping this would be a fun thread for Officers of RallyPoint. We all made some big mistakes as Lieutenants (and maybe are still making them), and here is a place to share. Some of them probably felt like a big deal at the time, but maybe now you can laugh about them.
I'll start. I was an XO as a second lieutenant. My unit had 12 MK19 mounts for gun trucks, thing was, we didn't have MK19s. So my commander tasked me to turn them in. So, I did the paperwork, coordinated with DRMO, and turned them in (all without disposition orders). When we took the paperwork to PBO to post it, the PBO wanted to know why we turned in 33,000 dollars worth of MTOE equipment (not to us, CTA to us, but MTOE to other units in the BDE). It got pretty tense, and the commander and BDE 4 got involved. And eventually it settled down...
I'll start. I was an XO as a second lieutenant. My unit had 12 MK19 mounts for gun trucks, thing was, we didn't have MK19s. So my commander tasked me to turn them in. So, I did the paperwork, coordinated with DRMO, and turned them in (all without disposition orders). When we took the paperwork to PBO to post it, the PBO wanted to know why we turned in 33,000 dollars worth of MTOE equipment (not to us, CTA to us, but MTOE to other units in the BDE). It got pretty tense, and the commander and BDE 4 got involved. And eventually it settled down...
Officers
Humor
Edited 10 y ago
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 51
0
0
0
This one wasn't me, but rather a friend and fellow 2LT. My battalion 5/20 Mechanized Infantry was on DMZ tour for 90 days during the summer of 1988. My buddy was platoon leader and commander at Guard Post Oullette. GP Oullette was in the US Sector right next to the Military Demarcation Line, up the hill and east of Panmunjom. It was continually staffed by an Infantry platoon, FA forward observer team, and an MI sensor team.
On the Guard Post, disassembled in crates, was a a few crew served weapons (M-2 and M-60's). Crew served weapons and automatic weapons were prohibited in the DMZ. Only MP's with semi-automatic weapons were allowed. We all wore MP arm bands and kept our selector switches on safe or semi. As long as the other weapons were kept disassembled and crated, they technically were not weapons.
My buddy's company commander told him to clean the weapons in the crates. He didn't understand and had his guys take them out and set them up. The NKPA guards filmed it and next thing we knew, the North Koreans filed a protest and called for an UNC-MAC meeting. To his credit, our battalion commander fought for the 2LT, but there was a matter of a bird and two stars that thought otherwise.
A few months later, my buddy PCS'd with his GO letter of reprimand to Fort Sill for a TRADOC assignment. I think being an Infantry LT as an assistant S-3 in an Field Artillery training brigade, wasn't considered a prime job. A couple of years later, he was invited to accept a reserve commission and go home. He did make 1LT, but I think that was because no one in his new command knew they weren't supposed to.
On the Guard Post, disassembled in crates, was a a few crew served weapons (M-2 and M-60's). Crew served weapons and automatic weapons were prohibited in the DMZ. Only MP's with semi-automatic weapons were allowed. We all wore MP arm bands and kept our selector switches on safe or semi. As long as the other weapons were kept disassembled and crated, they technically were not weapons.
My buddy's company commander told him to clean the weapons in the crates. He didn't understand and had his guys take them out and set them up. The NKPA guards filmed it and next thing we knew, the North Koreans filed a protest and called for an UNC-MAC meeting. To his credit, our battalion commander fought for the 2LT, but there was a matter of a bird and two stars that thought otherwise.
A few months later, my buddy PCS'd with his GO letter of reprimand to Fort Sill for a TRADOC assignment. I think being an Infantry LT as an assistant S-3 in an Field Artillery training brigade, wasn't considered a prime job. A couple of years later, he was invited to accept a reserve commission and go home. He did make 1LT, but I think that was because no one in his new command knew they weren't supposed to.
(0)
(0)
SPC Marcus DeMatos
Interesting distinction, that disassembled weapons are not considered weapons in a demilitarized zone. It's almost pertinent to the gun debate nationally, where a gun free zone doesn't always mean there aren't bad guy guns nearby. Playing the technicality in the DMZ is exactly why law abiding folks here don't deserve to be potential victims when we don't have to make them disarmed from being able to defend themselves.
(3)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google