Tag: field op

  • Not a Cell Phone in Sight

    Not a Cell Phone in Sight

    There was a time before cell phones when people were more present in their daily lives. Instead of staring down at their electronic devices, they were in the moment. Living.

    You can have this same nostalgic experience in the Marine Corps infantry, where you’re stuck in the field for days and weeks at a time, without a cell phone in sight. Smell the fresh air. The crisp rain. The misery.

    In all seriousness, there is something about the shared squalor amongst Marines that brings you all closer. Surviving together with nothing more than each other to entertain yourselves.

    This is what makes Marines.

    A few admin notes:

    You may have noticed I’ve been somewhat absent from my duties as Lance Corporal of the Marine Corps. This is, without a doubt, the longest stretch I’ve ever gone without posting regularly in 14 years of doing Terminal Lance.

    I have been recalibrating a lot. I have a young toddler and I’m also in a full time graduate program right now (using that GI Bill), so I have a lot on my plate. With that said, my work on TL has always been important to me and, prior to now, I’ve always put it first above all else. That is how I took TL to the heights it has reached over the years. Nonstop hustle.

    I’ve done a lot over the years and I have TL and the amazing community that has supported me to thank. It’s rare to create anything that so many people across the world love and appreciate, and I don’t take it for granted.

    Over the last few years I had a few professional setbacks that really did a number on me emotionally–combined with being a new dad, taking care of a baby, COVID, and everything else, it just really sent everything up in the air. I had to really take some steps back and evaluate whether my relationship to Terminal Lance was healthy.

    In any case, this isn’t a farewell post, just musing about the state of things. I’m trying some new stuff, like this animation here, and it gets me excited about new possibilities and frontiers.

    Consider supporting TL on Patreon by joining the Lance Corporal Underground. Terminal Lance has been independently owned and operated since day one in 2010, and your support will keep it that way. Check it out here!

  • Hurricane Hilary

    Hurricane Hilary

    Southern California faces an unusual weather event this weekend: Hurricane Hilary. While the hurricane is expected to be downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it hits California, Marines are expected to embrace the Suck as the storm plows through Camp Pendleton, Twentynine Palms, and other military installations in the area.

    As they say: if it ain’t rainin, we ain’t training. Marines are supposed to be an amphibious force, no?

    Stay safe out there, Marines. I’ll be hunkered down in Los Angeles, myself.

    If you love TL, you can support Terminal Lance by subscribing to our Patreon: the Lance Corporal Underground. You’ll get an inside look at upcoming stuff, behind-the-scenes process drawings of every comic, and access to some exclusive other stuff like a special Discord role!

  • Stop Everything

    Stop Everything

    People typically think that junior-enlisted Marines have no power over the world around them. This simply isn’t true. If a junior-enlisted Marine wants to stop everything, everywhere, all at once, all they have to do is lose a piece of serialized gear.

    There is nothing more heart-stopping, butt-puckering, and brow-sweatingly panic-inducing as losing a piece of serialized gear. The world stops for nothing… Except for this.

    Serialized gear is anything that has been issued to you by the armory, essentially. Any weapon, equipment, or gear that you don’t get to keep in your barracks room is considered “serialized.”

    (This is different than your typical CIF loadout that includes your pack and sleeping system, et all)

    While the military might have the highest budget of any singular entity on earth, you’d better believe if you lose a $1200 piece of gear that your ass is going to pay for it.

    Don’t be the one.

    Also, please support TL on Patreon! Help us so we don’t have to start shilling energy drinks and protein powders.

  • Inclemently Weathered

    Inclemently Weathered

    If it ain’t rainin’, we ain’t training. Or, more accurately, if we ain’t trainin’, it ain’t rainin’.

    Pack your Goretex on every field op, because the good lord certainly has a sense of humor as it pertains to Marines. Maybe we did something in a past life that irked him the wrong way. I dunno. He seems to have a soft spot for making the lives of Marines miserable.

    After all, why else are we the only ones standing post up there?

  • The 7-Ton Guy

    The 7-Ton Guy

    Not all heroes wear capes. In this case, they tend to wear boots-and-utes and are under 5’6″ (so they can stand up straight in the back of the 7-ton).

    The 7-ton guy is the hero we need, but definitely don’t deserve. They risk their backs and their bare hands to make sure those packs are stacked up and easy to pull out upon arrival to your (terrible) destination.

    The 7-ton guy is the guy that is always there for us, even when we’re not there for ourselves. He’s the guy that you want to buy a beer for, even though he didn’t ask for one. He’s just there… Ready and waiting, until duty calls.

    Thank you for your service, 7-ton guy.