What's some stupid things you've done as an LT or seen LTs do?

2015-07-18T19:49:57-04:00

As an LT myself I got very lucky to have had some great NCO to guide me. Even then, I had some "learning" experiences.

Response by CW4 Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 18 at 2015 7:54 PM

2015-07-18T19:54:02-04:00

I don't know if this was funny at the time but about 12 years ago, a brand new 2LT for one our convoys very lost out in the Dona Ana, White Sands area. The convoy was so lost that vehicles were running out of gas. The NCO's couldn't even salvage this event. When we showed up on the scene to provide fuel and a way out, the 2LT was crying and hiding in the back of a high back HMMWV.

Response by SMSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 18 at 2015 7:58 PM

2015-07-18T19:58:20-04:00

After coming off the road in Kabul, Afghanistan we were behind another convoy at the clearing barrels. My vehicle pulled up to the clearing barrell next to the last vehicle in the first convoy. Next to me was an Army LT trying unsuccessfully to clear his weapon. Everytime he would pull back his charging handle a bullet would fly out and hit the ground. Of course like a good NCO I let this go on for a few more times for my amusement before I leaned over and said, "sir don't forget to eject your magazine." He was embarrassed but thanked me, finished properly clearing his weapon and left. We had a good laugh back at the shop.

Response by SGT Joe Sabedra made Jul 18 at 2015 9:50 PM

2015-07-18T21:50:30-04:00

Had an LT go ask 1Sgt for a can of squelch for our radio.
Whole crew did push ups for that one but TOP was smiling.

Response by SGT Joe Sabedra made Jul 18 at 2015 9:56 PM

2015-07-18T21:56:23-04:00

Saw a Cadet shaking a tree so my Sgt could find us on the map once.

We all joked about it later. He took it as rights of passage. Good Cadet. Locke was his name. Always remember the good guys names.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 18 at 2015 10:01 PM

2015-07-18T22:01:30-04:00

I've told this story previously on Rallypoint, but I'll tell it again:
This unfortunate brand new 2LT just arrived at my infantry platoon. We went to the field for a couple weeks not long after he arrived. He wanted his wife to come out to view the conditions that we lived in out there and have her see our tent (I mean come on, who calls their wife out to the field?). We wanted to embarrass him in front of his wife, so when he came in with her they saw all of that poor LT's gear along with his cot was duct taped to the ceiling and support beams. He yelled at us to cut it down but we ignored him. He was a short, tiny guy so he had a hard time. He didn't call his wife in anymore after that. :-D

Response by Capt Seid Waddell made Jul 18 at 2015 11:32 PM

2015-07-18T23:32:19-04:00

I was fortunate to have a good NCOIC in my first assignment. He would come into my office and outline a problem on the land test ranges and ask me what I wanted him to do. I would tell him, and he would say "Right away sir", and head for the door. Then he would pause, turn around and say "If we do that and this happens, what then?" I hadn't considered that, and would change the order appropriately.

Later I would find out that he had already taken that second action days before, but he wanted me to tell him to do the right thing for the right reason. My NCOIC saved me from myself on any number of occasions as he trained me, and I will forever be grateful to him for that; I learned a lot about leadership from him.

48 years later, we are still in contact.

Response by COL Charles Williams made Jul 18 at 2015 11:58 PM

2015-07-18T23:58:36-04:00

How about the LT, who found an extra yellow smoke grenade is one of his platoon's 113s and instead of wasting time to turn it in... he figured he would just pop it and get rid of it. I believe the troop commander and squadron commander were in the motor pool before the smoke cleared... Wait... they were... because I was there too... Seemed smart at the time I pulled the pin...

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 19 at 2015 12:19 AM

2015-07-19T00:19:59-04:00

Tried to stop an LT from falling in a trench last week during our blank iteration at night. Went in with him and screwed up my shoulder. He was evacuated to the ER for possible head and spinal injuries. He is fine know, my arm jacked up bad. Karma said I should just let him fall.

Response by Capt Mark Strobl made Jul 19 at 2015 1:31 AM

2015-07-19T01:31:55-04:00

As a former member of the LPA (Lieutenants Protective Association), I have nothing to offer. However, I am enjoying these posts!

Response by SPC Oz Lockheart made Jul 19 at 2015 4:10 AM

2015-07-19T04:10:01-04:00

The asian LT has his finger up his nose so much in the field we came up with horrible asain bugar jokes. He used to walk everywhere with his finger up his nose. A horrible thought was that nose picker was the LT of the unit that was direct support of the unit that got Saddam Hussien. It must have been paint by numbers easy for him not to screw that up.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 19 at 2015 4:54 AM

2015-07-19T04:54:13-04:00

Our LT was getting chewed out by our CO over the phone. He would hold the reciever away from his face and jump up and down and curse under his breath, then would stop to listen to the CO. I've never seen a grown man throw a temper tantrum before then.

Response by Sgt Ken Prescott made Jul 19 at 2015 12:53 PM

2015-07-19T12:53:22-04:00

Align the map wrong, shoot a two-point resection, and march us into an artillery/air range impact area.

Adrenaline comes in two colors: yellow and brown.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 19 at 2015 11:48 PM

2015-07-19T23:48:25-04:00

Ask if they had to salute a 1LT.

Response by MSgt Marvin Kinderknecht made Jul 24 at 2015 9:27 PM

2015-07-24T21:27:32-04:00

Yes, we had an airplane on jacks and I told the guys I bet this dude?? will ask a dumb Question. Sure enough, he asked me if the aircraft was ready to fly. I said "yes sir, all you need to do is add power". The crew laughed.

Response by CPT Edward Cohen made Sep 9 at 2015 11:49 PM

2015-09-09T23:49:59-04:00

When your platoon sergeant, or later your first sergeant, says, "Sir, we need to talk......"

Response by SSG Ray Murphy made Feb 28 at 2017 11:23 AM

2017-02-28T11:23:35-05:00

PL at Polk. On a mounted movement to contact (Company level), LT had the shits, refused to just pull over and take care of business because he thought the CO would get mad. Shit himself in the 113. Had it running out of his bloused pants into the PC. He was forever known as 2LT "Dirty Harry" Callahan from that point forward.

Response by SSG Ben Gilstrap made Feb 28 at 2017 11:42 AM

2017-02-28T11:42:20-05:00

As a Drill Sergeant in a reserve unit after I left active duty, I was given the pleasure of having a cadet shadow me for three of his four years at the Citadel and giving him his first salute as an officer. The privilage to be able to teach young men to be good leaders before they ever have any authority is more rewarding than the laughs I got from a new LT messing up. I will never forget the LT that jumped face first into the "mud" in a rice paddy in Korea on contact during a training exercise though.

Response by SFC Kevin C. made Feb 28 at 2017 9:29 PM

2017-02-28T21:29:34-05:00

Ok so way the hell back in 1978, we were in Germany my first assignment. We were on Oberursel during Reforger. We were just getting set up the first night, at least a couple feet of snow. Well to get to the stupidity as we were trying to get a trailer put into position somehow the LT thought he could stop the trailer, he had his hand on the tongue the trailer and it was smashed between the truck and the trailer. He was in bad shape, they medevac'd him down off the mountain that night.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 1 at 2017 7:34 AM

2017-03-01T07:34:48-05:00

Had a INF Lt assigned to my Stryker MGS platoon. By the end of the first month I had him convinced that playing The computer game steel beast was appropriate for Sergeant time training is long as I had the privates gathered around the monitor and giving fire commands. First sergeant wasn't happy but he did laugh a little over it

Response by SSG Robert Pratt made Mar 2 at 2017 1:15 PM

2017-03-02T13:15:40-05:00

When I was the acting supply sergeant in Germany after getting back from Desert Storm, I purchased a box of Typewriter erasers at the SSSC store (the ones that are shaped like pencils but instead of lead, the core is an eraser). I called the Plt Ldrs down (we had 3 brand new 2LT's) and issued each of them "Antenna and spaghetti cord contact cleaners" on a hand receipt. They thought it was the most high speed thing they'd seen in months.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 21 at 2019 1:51 PM

2019-10-21T13:51:21-04:00

FTX when I was a 2LT, convinced a 1LT to interrupt a staff meeting to ask our BN XO for a box of grad squares. Told him I was starting lanes training in 15 minutes and I needed them and that MAJ ABC knew where they were. So he busts into the BN CO's tent to ask for them. Couple of minutes later we get a call over the radio that the old man wanted to see me. He tried to chew me out over it but couldn't manage to keep a straight face. Told me not to do it again. This same 1LT wore his ACH backwards for the entire day during that same FTX. He also lost his convoy after the OPFOR ambushed the second vehicle and he didn't notice and kept on driving.

Response by CPL Chris Palmberg made Oct 22 at 2019 9:18 AM

2019-10-22T09:18:06-04:00

The stereotypical lieutenant is, of course, bad at land nav. I was taking MS classes as a prior service SPC in college, and was assigned a "mentor" senior cadet to "teach" me land nav. Between start and first way point, he lost the map. Fortunately, we had the xeroxed pages with the points, and I'd shown off a bit by doing calculations on distances & azimuth before we started, so we managed to find all the points.
Ran into him as a CPT a number of years later while picking up ammo for a NG range. He was not thrilled when, in recollecting, I mentioned the incident.

Response by SSG David Stafne made Oct 22 at 2019 2:32 PM

2019-10-22T14:32:14-04:00

In Panama our BN Mortar PLT was conducting a Live Fire exercise. They went through the process of a Reverse Registration but the 2LT forgot to ensure the Tubes were turned back. He dropped the first live round in the Panama Canal missing a freighter by about 2 minutes; he was reassigned to the Motor Pool that afternoon!

Response by SFC William Ewing made Oct 22 at 2019 2:45 PM

2019-10-22T14:45:18-04:00

Working at the clearing barrel at the Finance office Army in payday. Back when.
Have seen over twenty LTs improperly clear their weapon and fire it. Not once hitting the inside of the barrel.

One shot between my legs missed me but but our office sign .
Had them load and clear their weapon as one of my clerk's counted to a hundred making sure each time was done properly.

One showed up with a rubber practice .45

Never did their enlisted guard have a problem clearing.
NCO dispersing

Response by SFC Greg Rhoads made Oct 22 at 2019 3:05 PM

2019-10-22T15:05:01-04:00

When assigned as an instructor at Fort Sam Houston, had two 2LT’s walking toward me. As required I saluted and just said “Lieutenants”, one responded “Sergeant” but the other said “How are you doing?” Not wanting to disobey an order I told him. About 15 minutes later they asked to be excused. Lesson learned. Don’t ask if ya don’t wanna know.

Response by CPT Robert Holden made Oct 22 at 2019 3:10 PM

2019-10-22T15:10:31-04:00

As a lt I hope I didn’t make to many mistakes . As an e3 we had a 2nd LT that tried reading a map and leading the way. That didn’t go well

Response by MSG Michael Kissamitakis made Oct 22 at 2019 3:17 PM

2019-10-22T15:17:33-04:00

I always had my young lieutenants’ 6.

Response by Sgt Dan Catlin made Oct 22 at 2019 6:20 PM

2019-10-22T18:20:02-04:00

I was in Combat Support Ops, Nam Phong, Thailand (The Rose Garden), and my job was a Tech Controller, part of a net for all comms in SE Asia. We worked our shifts alone in a small plywood hooch surrounded by concertina wire, often 12 on 12 off 7 days a week. Now conditions there were verging on primitive- our equipment was actually Korean War vintage. The mud was probably from the Revolution though, since the Corps has always just recycled that. So not even a latch on the door. Enter our new One Zero, "Captain Crunch" (new Comm O, our nickname for him- straight out of 8th & I; literally). He gave up on trying to get us to keep our boots spit shined there in the middle of the jungle and focused instead on trying to catch us sleeping or otherwise doing wrong. And he especially wanted to catch us screwing up, or off (anything would do) because every time we pulled the plug on the CG (interrupting him was one of my less onerous duties), he took the brunt of the Old Man's ire. We also got a brand new butter bar who followed Crunch around like a puppy dog, just as close on his heels as he could. Crunch and pooch used to just barge into the Net Controller hooch, head on a swivel, piggy little eyes searching for anything wrong; his wide eyed puppy so close if they hadn't been in step they'd have tangled and fell in a heap!

Then they "gave" us crypto. And at the same time we were installing the crypto machine they were upgrading security, including a latch for the door and instructions to keep it latched at all times. Now, I don't know if no one told Crunch, or if he just forgot. But about 11:00 he came flying up the 2 steps to our door and hit it as he always did; only this time it hit back! There was a terrific crash and all would have probably been ok for Captain our Captain, but the Pup then ran into him! There was a second crash as Crunch hit the door again (and again it hit back), and now they were out of step! Legs tangled, they went over the side on the steps, right into some of that recycled mud!

After that we noticed the Lt. did not follow the Cpt quite so closely.

Response by SSG Brian Edwards made Oct 22 at 2019 6:53 PM

2019-10-22T18:53:53-04:00

As a attack plt. Sargent I had a new LT. On his second assignment fresh from Korea to Campbell. He showed up on his second day comes into my office and tells me this is how we are are going to run maintenance. It was so stupid that I said yes sir. Within a week battalion CO CALLED ask me what the F did I think I was doing. Told CO exactly what was told to me after he chewed my ass for listening to a young LT he had a face to face with my LT. Next day LT walks in to my office and says it's your maintenance program you run it. Lol

Response by SGT Chris Colombini made Oct 22 at 2019 6:56 PM

2019-10-22T18:56:45-04:00

On TDY to Arkansas, light engineer unit out of Bragg, to raise an airfield. 1lt always trying to get on the equipment to operate. Well after a week of the the NCOIC approaches me, knowing all too well I was this Lt's mechanic in Afghanistan on a Route Clearance package, and being older than anyone else, my lack of political correctness would be fun.
So, I tell the Lt. that being an Officer, he's in charge, and a figurehead, and we enlisted got this.
Poor guy pouted for 3 straight days, and they say Airborne are tough.

Response by Cpl Michael Mead made Oct 22 at 2019 9:21 PM

2019-10-22T21:21:28-04:00

After I had EAS'd from the Marines I was working clearing trees to identify a road near Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indiana. A lieutenant comes wandering out of the woods. Lost as hell on a land navy course. Had to pull a map out of my truck and point him in the right direction. He wasn't even on the map he had.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Oct 22 at 2019 10:09 PM

2019-10-22T22:09:14-04:00

Battalion could not provide deployment information, so I went to Brigade. I got the best ass chewing by the BN CO.

Response by SGT Albert Thompson made Oct 22 at 2019 11:42 PM

2019-10-22T23:42:55-04:00

I served with a 2LT who was truly sad. Once on a field problem, the CO told him to get the keys to the LZ, and bless his heart, the LT took off to find them! I won’t say what the CO did right away, but he was not happy! After we returned from the field, that LT was put on permanent Staff Duty until he resigned his commission. The key to his demise? He thought he knew everything & NEVER listened to his NCOs!

Response by MAJ Matthew Arnold made Oct 23 at 2019 1:05 AM

2019-10-23T01:05:55-04:00

Don't try this at home:
I was a platoon leader in the 1/508 infantry (Abn.). My CO instructed me to clear a room occupied by my men to make room for the battalion chaplain's office. Being somewhat deficient upstairs, I remedied the my CO that the regulations prohibited clearing barracks space that is being used to house soldiers for office use. He told me that he was not going to tell the battalion commander no, and to do as I was told. I decided that I was in the right, so I went to the division housing office to report anonymously what was being done against the regulations in my battalion. I soon found out that there is no such thing as anonymous. In the long run, I survived my own idiocy. The lesson learned is, just do as you're told.

Response by LTC Ken Connolly made Oct 23 at 2019 10:26 AM

2019-10-23T10:26:39-04:00

Witnessed a couple of LTs getting off an elevator in a 2 story building (in itself is a statement for a 20 something LTs physical condition) and asking people in the corridor why the elevator does not go to the 3rd floor.

Response by CW4 Craig Urban made Oct 23 at 2019 10:42 AM

2019-10-23T10:42:18-04:00

How about a LT attempting to mess with a CW3. I had 5. All 5 did not make Major. 3 were west pointers.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 23 at 2019 8:18 PM

2019-10-23T20:18:56-04:00

I got a butter bar go to the readiness NCO to get an ID 10 Tango form