Time For A New Subtitle
In the Marines, the vast majority of your junior Marines are lance corporals. It's the E-3 rank and the last "automatic" rank that an individual will pick up strictly on account of time spent in the service, so it's where the most individuals tend to accumulate. As such, lance corporals also become the channel of information, disinformation, and just plain self-started rumor. (My very good friend fattred1 was known to create rumors out of nothing, strictly for the amusement of hearing them told back to him in confident and credulous tones.) And this was called the Lance Corporal Underground. It passed what was known as Bum Scoop.
Especially during the deployment, this seemed an apt title for my journal, and I kept it afterwards.
Except... now I'm a Corporal, an honest-to-God Marine NCO.
I got the notification, what's called a promotion warrant, in the mail today, dated July 1, 2006--the same day my very good friend fattred1 got promoted. Needless to say, it blew my mind. I thought I'd be a Lance forever. I mean, I always thought I was a pretty good Marine. Kept my head down, did what I was told, took initiative when it needed taking, that kind of thing. But I tended to be a, how do I put it?, a sub-optimal performer when it came to physical fitness. It's not all the Corps counts, however, it is a big damn part of the promotion equation. In fact, I was working my way toward it while in Iraq, and making a ton of progress, when I hurt my shoulder--and injury led to laziness and I only had three drills left by the time we got back...
And the excuses go on.
So, somehow, in their questionable wisdom, the Corps elected to promote me.
It almost makes me want to go back in. But I'll tell you: it does make me want to get into shape.
Especially during the deployment, this seemed an apt title for my journal, and I kept it afterwards.
Except... now I'm a Corporal, an honest-to-God Marine NCO.
I got the notification, what's called a promotion warrant, in the mail today, dated July 1, 2006--the same day my very good friend fattred1 got promoted. Needless to say, it blew my mind. I thought I'd be a Lance forever. I mean, I always thought I was a pretty good Marine. Kept my head down, did what I was told, took initiative when it needed taking, that kind of thing. But I tended to be a, how do I put it?, a sub-optimal performer when it came to physical fitness. It's not all the Corps counts, however, it is a big damn part of the promotion equation. In fact, I was working my way toward it while in Iraq, and making a ton of progress, when I hurt my shoulder--and injury led to laziness and I only had three drills left by the time we got back...
And the excuses go on.
So, somehow, in their questionable wisdom, the Corps elected to promote me.
It almost makes me want to go back in. But I'll tell you: it does make me want to get into shape.