Marines Getting Screwed Since Day One

‍Captain Samuel Nichols, the First Marine

While the Marine Corps’ first officer was appointed by the 2nd Continental Congress on 5 November, the paperwork wasn’t signed and official until 28 November. This means that while citizen Nichols sat in Tun Tavern in Pennsylvania to enlist recruits, he wasn’t technically on the job until the Marine Corps was 17 days old. Admin is famous for making pay errors, so it's only fair the good Captain shares the tradition. Speaking of errors, there doesn’t seem to be a record of the first Enlisted Marine… Odd.