How to Use first lieutenant in a Sentence

first lieutenant

noun
  • He was honorably discharged in 1946 with the rank of first lieutenant.
    — Bonnie L. Cook, Philly.com, 21 Sep. 2017
  • Later, he was was promoted to first lieutenant, before being discharged from the Army.
    — Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 9 Sep. 2024
  • Driscoll served in the Army as a cavalry scout platoon leader, leaving after less than four years of service with the rank of first lieutenant.
    — Danielle Battaglia, Charlotte Observer, 1 Feb. 2025
  • Now in the reserves' Colorado Springs unit, the first lieutenant is able to telework to keep on track for the captain rank this May.
    — Megan Ryan, Star Tribune, 24 Mar. 2021
  • Coelman is the first lieutenant governor in Kentucky's history to welcome a new child while in office.
    — Billy Kobin, The Courier-Journal, 8 Feb. 2020
  • Will had risen to the rank of major and Cully, who often cooked at the encampment activities for the young cadets, was first lieutenant.
    — Deanna Weniger, Twin Cities, 22 Oct. 2019
  • David Cheap, the first lieutenant of the Centurion, the squadron’s flagship, was no different.
    — David Grann, The New Yorker, 28 Feb. 2023
  • After 13 months in Korea, now a first lieutenant, he was moved to Quantico as an instructor.
    — Mort Mazor, sun-sentinel.com, 5 Nov. 2021
  • The Air Force first lieutenant was once given a mission to attack an enemy airport in Burma.
    — Lilly Nguyen, latimes.com, 13 June 2019
  • The company went into the drill very reluctantly, having only thirty-nine men in line, the first lieutenant and right guide being among the missing.
    — Merrie Monteagudo, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Apr. 2021
  • He was eventually promoted to first lieutenant, and was a member of the 75th Rangers Regime.
    — Alexis Chestnov, Peoplemag, 10 Nov. 2022
  • He was eventually promoted to first lieutenant, and was a member of the 75th Rangers Regime.
    — Alexis Chestnov, Peoplemag, 10 Nov. 2022
  • Dad was a Seabee, an engineer and first lieutenant in the Naval Construction Battalion.
    — Diane Covington-Carter, latimes.com, 3 June 2019
  • Alona Koval’s younger sister, Maryna Golinko, is a medic and first lieutenant with the Ukrainian 36th brigade.
    — David L. Stern, Washington Post, 2 Oct. 2022
  • Street-to-street fighting has become so intense over the past month that many Ukrainian units need to be rotated out of the city after just two weeks, according to the first lieutenant.
    — Susannah George and Serhii Korolchuk, Anchorage Daily News, 21 Apr. 2023
  • Danny Ramirez brings a puppy-like excitement to his role of first lieutenant Joaquin Torres, but this makes no effort to introduce him on its own terms.
    — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 12 Feb. 2025
  • On the museum’s website, read stories and tributes such as one to Sharon Lane, a first lieutenant during the Vietnam War.
    — Michele Herrmann, Forbes, 28 May 2021
  • The soldier, a first lieutenant with the Virginia National Guard, stole the armored command post before taking it on the interstate.
    — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 6 June 2018
  • Her brother left the Army as a first lieutenant a couple of years after the deployment and is now a corporate refinance lawyer in New York City.
    — Sig Christenson, San Antonio Express-News, 24 Dec. 2021
  • Before becoming Army Secretary, Driscoll served in Iraq as an armor officer, leaving after three and a half years as a first lieutenant.
    — Rebecca Schneid, Time, 25 Nov. 2025
  • Bailey was honorably discharged from the Women’s Army Corps as a first lieutenant in January 1946.
    — al, 11 Nov. 2020
  • After leaving active duty as a first lieutenant, Driscoll worked in finance and held internships with the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs and major law firms.
    — Matthew Robinson, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Nov. 2025
  • The Air Force base and the airport's original name commemorated Charles Linton Williams, an Arizona native who was a first lieutenant in the Army Air Corps.
    — Michael Salerno, AZCentral.com, 13 Aug. 2025
  • Though their kids have stayed out of the public eye, Angela shared on Facebook in November 2020 that their daughter, Abby, was a first lieutenant in the United States Air Force.
    — Emily Blackwood, PEOPLE, 27 May 2026
  • Bou Saab’s son, George, an army first lieutenant, was one of 18 military members killed in clashes with followers of radical Sunni Muslim cleric Ahmed al-Assir in the southern city of Sidon in 2013.
    — ABC News, 5 June 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'first lieutenant.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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