2LT Horror Stories?

I remember our Bn Cdr had his driver (a PFC friend of mine) bringing in equipment and supplies from his vehicle. While in the midst of this, a new 2LT to our unit walked by (the LTC was not out there at this time) and was perturbed when the PFC didn’t salute him. The Lieutenant took his cap off and placed it on the vehicle and ordered my friend to salute it 100 times as remedial training on how to salute. During the ‘salutes’ the LTC wandered out to his vehicle and asked what was happening. The 2LT describe what happened and how he’s providing training for the young PFC. The Bn Cdr nodded and said, “Good idea.” Once my friend had finished his salutes, the 2LT was about to be on his way, after retrieving his cap. The LTC said, “Wait a second there, Lieutenant.” He took my friend’s cap and placed it on the vehicle and said, “Now you have to return every one of those salutes.” I cried, I was laughing so hard.

In the 2 years since commissioning, these are some of the reasons I've seen 2LT's failing, whether they're aware of it or not:
- Failing to listen to their senior NCOs - no brainer
- Not spending time with their Soldiers or taking the time to develop an understanding of their Soldiers' tasks - the most common complaint I hear from Soldiers is that they don't see their officers. There's being busy with real work, then there's sitting in the office when you could be out there getting to know your platoon.
- Seeing themselves as part of a separate team from their Soldiers - everyone needs to work together in order to accomplish the mission
- Being terrified of making a mistake - you won't always have enough guidance, and you will often find yourself in situations you're unprepared for. Don't fail to take action. Use your training and NCOs, get the mission accomplished, and correct a mistake next time if need be. Everyone expects you to make mistakes, so make them and learn from them while you can
- Not seeking out mentorship - good mentorship will not be handed to you. If you don't have great leaders in your unit to emulate, find some elsewhere. This can be difficult, but don't be afraid to seek out other officers you look up to for advice

So there I was, at FOB Delta, Al Kut, Iraq....again... My Driver, my Team Leader and I were on our way to the chow hall. We were engaged in conversation about things that had happened over the course of the day and what laid ahead in the coming days. We passed a group of people and we hear a female voice yell out behind us "HEY!". We stopped and looked back and this little baby faced 2LT was charging toward us. She looked like she had just graduated the 4th grade. As she approached us she said "What's the matter? We don't salute officers anymore?" and proceeded to grill us about it. We apologized and explained that we didn't see her because we had been engaged in conversation. Her grilling continued and the 3 of us looked at each other. We snapped to attention and my team leader said "Sniper bait, Ma'am!" and we turned and walked away leaving her with her chin on the ground. The SFC and other 2LT that were with here almost fell over laughing.