FrogFly- I can agree with you, that if I had said "I am a 2nd Lieutenant so listen to me", then yes, that would have been pretty pathetic. My time in the corps is about as limited as they get, and my training in the corps has had more to do with evaluation than true tactics instruction. In reality, what I was attempting to do with that little paragraph was trying to point to Crowbar, by saying "Hey, a Marine Staff Sergeant who has been in the corps since before you had a drivers license still says it's OK to be nervous, so it might be time to re-examine your philosophy". Please note that I did say "more importantly" and highlight the rank "Staff Sergeant of Marines".
As far as the word "counsel" is concerned, I will come clean. I will be the first to admit that while I have completed OCS, I have amassed exactly zero days in the FMF. While I was at OCS, the way the term counseled was used (at least in front of me) implied that it was a synonym for "advise". Based on the reactions to this that both Crowbar and you have had to the word "counsel" in particular, I am getting the impression that the word implies something a bit more formal and authoritative than I realized. That's my bust, and I'll admit it.
Basically, if I stuck to using words that I could fully account for the original sentence would say-
"You have been advised both by myself, and more importantly, a Staff Sergeant of Marines. I know that doesn't mean much to you now, but I can promise you that if there is someone on this thread that knows what leadership is, it is Crowbar. Do yourself a favor and take his advice."
Sorry to spend so much time clearing this up, but please realize that I personally pride myself on my lack of being "high and mighty", and I want to do my best to stop any misconceptions about what I was trying to say before this goes any further.
As a matter of fact, the message that I have trying to convey this entire time was "Don't go to OCS trying to be high and mighty yourself, because it won't earn you respect or friendship from the candidates around you."
Kind of ironic, huh?
Oh well, while I won't change anything else in my previous post, I'm going to go back and edit the word "counsel" to "advise".