moving up in the world.

not me of course. jon!

remember this?

well, it's happening again!

jon is getting promoted tomorrow my time, probably right now his time.

he's going from lance corporal to corporal! 

here is a little explanation of his new rank for myself/family:

"Corporal (Cpl) is the fourth enlisted rank in the U.S. Marine Corps. The Marine Corps, unlike the Army, has no other rank at the pay grade of E-4. Corporal is the lowest grade of non-commissioned officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, though promotion to Corporal traditionally confers a large jump in authority and responsibility compared to promotion from Private through Lance Corporal. 

"Theoretically, Marine Corporals generally serve as "fire-team leaders," commanding a 4-man team or unit of similar size" blah blah blah...

so it's a big deal! i am so so proud of him. 

oh, and to make it a little bit cooler-he's getting meritoriously promoted.

"In addition to the "normal" promotion system, commanders can promote a very few, outstanding Marines via the Meritorious Promotion System."

basically...in order to get promoted, you have to serve a specific amount of time, get good scores athletically and take lots of tests. that all adds up to a certain amount of points...lets just say, jon wasn't ready to be promoted. according to his score, he shouldn't have been. the guys above him thought he needed to get promoted anyway, so they all gave him good markings and said good things about him. they sent a packet to one of the main guys over in afghanistan. he looked at a lot of packets and only promoted SEVEN people! and jon was one of the seven!!

and to make it just a LITTLE bit cooler, i guess it's a big deal that he got promoted in a combat zone and will look good on his marine corps record. 

he is such a good boy, and i could brag for hours on end. 

i'll just stop with CONGRATULATIONS JON! i wish i could be there!