Rifle Accountability

A few weeks ago, the TBS A Class of 1967 had a reunion and I was lucky enough to eat lunch with a Former Marine from that class. As an artillery officer during the Vietnam War, he had a lot of interesting stories to share and he also regaled some times he had at TBS. I excused myself at the end of lunch and he stopped me and said that he had one piece of advice for me as a 2ndLt. I thought he was going to pass on some wisdom and advice on how to lead Marines, especially in the face of combat. He looked at me and said, "When you're out in the treeline here in Quantico and you set your rifle down against a tree for a second, always, always make sure to pick it back up."

Fast forward to my FEX I story, which isn't about me but I think its pertinent to all future lost Lts and drives the "pick up your rifle" lesson home.

At 1900 on the evening of the second day of FEX, a platoon heads out in the treeline to discuss combat related things. They have with them only their uniform and their rifle. A Lt in that Plt realizes that he needs to relieve himself in a way that requires a hole to be dug, so he headed back to his pack to get his E-Tool (shovel) and then farther out into the treeline to dig his hole. At the end of his business, he went back to his Plt only to get there and realize that he had set his rifle down next to a tree and forgotten to pick it back up. He raced back to the tree but saw quickly that it wasn't the tree and then spent the next 30 minutes running back and forth through the woods looking for his rifle. He had thought he stayed relatively close to his starting point, however when he tried to bite the bullet and go back to admit he lost his rifle and have everyone look for it, he realized that he no longer knew where his platoon was, nor where he was. He had been swallowed whole by the Quantico Jungle and was now alone, potentially afraid and facing a setting sun.
Knowing he now only had 30 minutes until sunset, said Marine executed "THE LOST MARINE PLAN". It was orient yourself to the N, run until you hit road and then turn right. At this point, he's running his butt off in 90 degree heat because by then he figured that his platoon realized that they hadn't seen him in the past ninety minutes and the whole company would be out searching for their lost Marine. Not the case, but I can only imagine how one must feel being 'that guy.' He found himself on the hardball road, turned right and ran until he finally reached Weapons BN. He sought out the duty NCO and bursting into the office, he panted "You have...to call...Charlie...Company...and [pant pant] let them know...where I am..."

The Cpl looked at him and said, " Calm down Sir, this kind of thing happens to Lts all the time." He then called the C Co XO and said, "Sir, I have one of your Lts here all ready for war with his E-tool."

The Lt was then able to head down the roads back to the LZ where the company was at and his platoon was able to track down the rifle a little while later. So no harm, no foul.

But, it was apparently true in 1967 as it is true today: If you set down your rifle, make sure to pick it back up.