Terminal Lance #75 “They Will Hate”

I always wondered what it must be like for the average Staff NCO, higher ranking enlisted having to salute butter-bar Lieutenants with no experience whatsoever. I know that normally the focus of Terminal Lance as a comic is on the Lance Corporal of the Marine Corps; however, you don’t need to be a Lance Corporal to be a Terminal Lance. Some Staff NCO’s are inherently more grounded in common sense and practicality than others, it is the ones that worry more about your hands being in your pockets than common sense that give the senior enlisted a bad rep. For those Staff NCO’s that are tried and true Terminal Lances, the haters will hate. After all, haters gonna hate all those Terminal Lances of the Marine Corps.

I always wondered what this must be like though. I myself had trouble saluting butter-bars that had been in for less time than myself–and I got out after 4 years! Boot lieutenants are a special creature, they have done nothing but feel completely entitled to everything. A shiny collar is all that separates them from the enlisted boots that police call your barracks parking lot at 5am every morning.

It is, after all, as the old adage goes:

What is the difference between a Private First Class and a 2nd Lieutenant?

A PFC has been promoted once.

I wanted to take a moment to share this image from the Terminal Lance Facebook fan page, uploaded by Dana Katz:

I just thought it was funny, as well as a nice homage to my home state of Oregon. Terminal Lances are amongst the entire Marine Corps, from all over the country, in every base known to Chesty Puller. Know someone that hasn’t seen Terminal Lance? Get them up to speed quick!