Terminal Lance #393 “Sage Advice”

Honestly, I don’t know why anyone ever comes to me for advice.

As many people exit the Marine Corps, the memories that weren’t so great get replaced with feelings of nostalgia and overall fondness for the experience. This happened to me for a while, as I would look back on my time in the Corps and reminisce about the fun me and my 18-22 year old friends had on our adventures in Hawaii and Iraq.

Let’s be realistic though, this comic is called Terminal Lance. I got out of the Marine Corps for a reason, and generally it was because it just wasn’t for me. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate it (obviously), but I think I made the right choice.

I often get emails from people all over the country (and world), and sometimes they are from bright-eyed poolees looking to enlist. They want to know everything they can from me before they embark on their journey. Realistically though, I’m a bad person to ask. I was a bitter and disgruntled infantryman for the most part. I have since come to value my experiences at home and abroad, but believe me, I immediately regretted it the moment a short, sweaty man wearing a funny hat started screaming at me for no apparent reason.

A more interesting message sent to me, I would argue, was a recently separated Marine not quite feeling the glory of the First Civ Div. He was regretting his EAS, he missed his Marine friends and found that the civilian world wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. A lot of my friends experienced the same thing (myself too, to an extent). I tried, as best I could, to remind him that he got out for a reason. Go with your gut. If you got out of the Corps because you didn’t like it, and find yourself intensely missing it, you might just need to remember that you actually didn’t like it.

You just miss what it was in your head: a crazy adventure with some of the best friends you’ll ever have.

In other news, Gina over at Pin-Ups for Vets recently invited me out to be featured in her 2016 calendar. I reluctantly accepted, as I’m pretty sure she would have slit my throat in my sleep otherwise. Here’s a sneak peak, and head over to her site to preorder it for an eyeful of beautiful women and some shlub she let sit next to her for a bit.