FORT BLISS, TEXAS – Major Sean O’Sullivan, the new executive officer of 1-42 Air Defense Artillery Battalion, has made it his primary mission in life to stamp out the misuse of the word “literally” among his staff officers and subordinate leaders within the battalion.

O’Sullivan’s first salvo in this campaign came last Tuesday in the form of a signed and scanned memorandum sent to all 1-42 ADA staff officers and company commanders, with both the battalion and brigade commanders carbon copied. The memorandum went into some detail on how the XO saw an increase in the misuse of the word “literally” throughout the formation and encouraged all battalion personnel to avoid using it “in e-mails, military memos, or even off-duty hours if [they] do not know how to use it properly.”

Other parts of the letter indicated how seriously O’Sullivan takes the situation: “1-42 ADA is a professional organization that is represented to both internal and external organizations and agencies by our words, both in text and orally. When one of our team says they ‘literally shit themselves laughing,’ it reflects negatively on this command. Has anyone ever actually shit himself or herself from laughing then had to change their filthy pants? That is what ‘literally shitting oneself’ means.”