Terminal Lance #523 “The Search”

One of the many banes of a Marine’s existence is gear accountability. Lose any piece of serialized gear in the field, and find your entire platoon police calling for hours on end. Despite the fact that Uncle Sam throws about $500 billion to the US Military annually, losing a $1000 piece of gear will mean the end of your world if you happen to be so unlucky. Most Marines will spend that much in a single weekend in single dollar bills at the strip club, but you’d better believe the universe will pause if a serialized piece of gear goes missing.

With that said, it’s difficult to lose an entire rifle. With that also said, I’ve seen it happen multiple times.

Once you pull your rifle out of the armory, that thing is like an annoying little metal child that can’t leave your side. You’ll eat with it, sleep with it, and just generally be annoyed by it as it rubs a hole into your cammies over the course of a few months on deployment. Accidentally leave it behind, and you will feel the wrath of the green weenie like never before.

If you check out the official Terminal Lance Instagram IG TV channel, you’ll see a video of me catching up with the Marines after a cold night at Bridgeport. That same night prior, one of the Marines lost his rifle in the snow, resulting in a 300 man working party to comb the mountainside for it.

A fun night indeed.