Here’s your weekly dose of heretofore unpublished — at least online — “Terminal Lance” shenanigans. This strip, titled “Run-in with an Old Friend,” first appeared in the Marine Corps Times dated June 4.
“Run-in with an Old Friend.” Original pub date June 4, 2012.
(Artwork by Maximilian Uriarte)
Has this ever happened to you? When he submitted this strip back in May, TL creator Max Uriarte noted in his email that it’s based on a true story.
“I ran into my recruiter in Iraq,” he said, “in Sahl Sinjar (of all places) while I was on a random layover for 12 hours on my way back from a photography mission up at COP Heider. It was definitely an interesting thing to have happen in the middle of the desert.”
If you’ve got a good “Run-in with an Old Friend” story, we’d love for you to share it here. Don’t be shy; we’re family.
21 Comments
Not a story, but a warning to youngsters in DEP or whatever. If your recruiter has been meritoriously promoted three times (all the way to Gunny) hold on to your wallets.
I ran into my recruiter at a mall in Indianapolis about six months before my EAS. My sister, who had seen me off from MEPS, had told me that he asked her out about five mins after I left, and when she told him no, he proceeded to follow her to her apartment in Muncie, IN, and leave her flowers everyday for about a week.
Our little run in was awkward…for him. When I asked him about it, he laughed uncomfortably, and faked a phone call.
My recruiter ended up going to my same battalion, and while on deployment gave a patrol order drunk. CO booted him to the batt. COC where he stayed for the rest of the deployment. He still felt the need to devil dog me on my lack of name tapes, saying I made him look bad.
I ran into my old recruiter a year or so after I got to the Fleet. He was working at the LIDS store in the mall where the recruiting office was located… out of the Marines and into LIDS. Dunno what he was doing really, maybe he was going to school.
ran into a Marine i recruited in Indianapolis it was awkward as hell since i dated his sister pretty much his whole enlistment. we left on bad terms and i dunno what happened to her. i guess she told her brother and ended up running into him. i made him feel awkward so he faked a phome call lulz
My recruiter was Jack Webb.
I called my recruiting station like every brand new cherry on his first leave; Nobody at the station even recognized his name!!
However, I did run into one of the cooler Drills I had on a bus at Taji; He welcomed me with a “Why the fuck are you still in the Army?!”. I ended up sharing a COP with his unit, and found out one of the biggest turds in our basic had ended up in his platoon! Too funny…
After 8 months as a poolee, my recruiter fell asleep in a GOV and hit a police car. In the subsequent days he was also found to have used his government credit card improperly. “Sgt Sleepy”, nicknamed by his peers, was then assigned to MEPS where I found him making coffee and making photocopies as I left for RT. Four years later I was on leave before PCS’ing to Okinawa and ran into him at the local Ford dealership. He was one of the vultures racing out to meet me when I parked. After an awkward greeting he passed me off to another salesman and went inside to hide. He was not the only recruiter in trouble while I was in the DEP. There was another recruiter relieved for having an inappropriate relationship with a 17 year old poolee. My interactions and observations of the recruiting staff and the folks at MEPS led to me avoiding recruiting duty like the plague.
Hey Ryan, that sounds a lot like my recruiter. Where Are you from ?
I ran into a guy from boot two years later in okinawa at the banna show of all places hahahahaha one of the funniest runs ever for me!
I actually ran in to my best friend from back home while I was at camp Dwyer, I just happened to be up there doing MATV an MRAP licensing as he was coming in country, he saw a post of mine on Facebook and went looking for guys from my unit who evertually lead him to my hooch, I couldn’t believe what u was seeing when he walked up haha, awesome night!
Sure as hell did. Ran into my recruiter at a USO in Afghanistan. My team leader called him out. I pointed him out. My teamleader stood up, walked over to him and told him, “Hey, SSgt, my Marine over there says you F*ed him over.” The look on his face was priceless. He was about to blow up until he recognized me. HAHA. I’ll never forget that.
My recruiter checked into my unit as a lance corporal (sleeping with dep’ers, rumor has it one showed up at bootcamp pregnant). It was pretty funny as I was senior to him….
I ran into my recruiter at the pistol range…I was his coach! 🙂
Oh, and he can’t shoot 😉
Sorry guys it is an airwing story. I went to my A school had a SSGT for my instructor who for god knows his reason hated me with a passion. Well about a year and a half later He strolls in to my command and becomes my SNCOIC. Upon this we resumed our hatred for each other and well pretty much he just kept sending me other places and making my life miserable for the last year which I returned the favor. Let me put it this way. I will no longer talk to another person from Philidelphia.
I was on a civilian flight from FL to OR and talked to a marine on the plane. At that time I was an army dep’r. Long story short I ended up in the corps instead and saw that same guy at the courthouse bay chowhall during engineer school almost 2 years later. The look on his face when he put it together was priceless…
@Jesse – I originally joined from RSS South Sacramento. When I first entered the DEP it was in Oakland, but before I shipped it was moved to Sacramento. Timeframe was 96-97.
Never saw that dude again. Heard he got kicked out for sleeping with recruits before they went to boot and one popped on a preggo test. You ARE the father!
i know this feeling. i enlisted as a reserve and wanted to switch over to active duty. well during the process my recruiter tells me “now its just a matter if I want to switch you or discharge you and not bother with you. Id rather switch you so I dont have to take a discharge. But if I do that, I need to know you will be able to get to where you need to be without me worrying”.
Never saw my recruiter again, but I ran into my boot camp Heavy about a year later. I was dropping off a humvee at the motor pool, where he apparently worked. He spotted me first, ran screaming at me from across the work bay, and I was face down counting one sir two sir before I even realized I didn’t have to. Muscle memory is a motherfucker.