Military Lessons Learned

Never share a foxhole with anyone braver than you.

No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy. (Field Marshall Carl Von Moltke)

Friendly fire ain't.

The most dangerous thing in the combat zone is an officer with a map.

The problem with taking the easy was out is that the enemy has already mined it.

The buddy system is essential to your survival; it gives the enemy a second target.

The further you are in advance of your own positions, the more likely your artillery will shoot short.

Incoming fire has the right of way.

If your advance is going well, you are walking into an ambush.

The quartermaster only has two sizes: too large and too small.

If you need an officer quickly, take a nap.

Suppressive fire only works when used on abandoned positions.

The only thing more accurate than incoming enemy fire is incoming friendly fire.

Nothing is more satisfying than being shot at, and being missed.

Conspicuousness in the combat zone draws fire.  Conspicuousness out of the combat zone draws sergeants.

If your sergeant can see you, so can the enemy.

Never worry about the bullet with your name on it, rather, concern yourself with shrapnel addressed to "occupant."

All battles are fought at the junction of two or more maps printed on different scales.

All battles are fought uphill.

All battles are fought in the rain.

Logistics is the ball and chain of armored warfare (Heinz Guderian).

The army with the smartest dress uniform will lose.

What gets you promoted in one rank gets you killed in the next.

A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow (George Patton).

If orders can be misunderstood, they already have been.

Tracers work both ways.

If the enemy is in range, so are you.

War is like love.  To triumph, you must make contact (Napoleon).

Boldness becomes rarer the higher in rank (Clausewitz).

Never reinforce failure; failure reinforces itself.

Only 5% of intelligence reporting is accurate.  The objective of a good commander is to isolate the 5% (Douglas MacArthur).

Tactics is for amateurs; professionals study logistics.

When a front line solders can hear two General Staff officers conferring, he has fallen back too far.

Only numbers can annihilate (Horatio Nelson).

Always know when it is time to get out of Dodge.

Always know how to get out of Dodge.

Your equipment was made by the lowest bidder.

Priorities are made by officers, not God.  There is a difference.

Always honor a threat.

The weight of your gear is proportional to the cube of the time you've been humping it.

Hell hath no fury like a non-combatant (Charles Edward Montague).

Fighter pilots make movies; attack pilots make history.

There are two types of naval vessels: submarines and targets.

A lost battle is a battle one thinks one has lost (Ferdinand Foch).

Surprise is an event that takes place in the mind of a commander (Jerry Pournelle).

All warfare is based on deception (Sun Tzu).

A little caution outflanks a large cavalry (Otto von Bismark).

No combat ready squadron ever passed inspection; no inspection ready squadron ever passed combat.

Five second grenade fuses burn in three seconds.

The enemy diversion you are ignoring is the main attack force.

Radios function perfectly until you need fire support.

Professional soldiers are predictable, but the world is full of amateurs.

Parade ground inspections are to combat readiness as mess hall food is to cuisine.

When in doubt, empty the magazine.

Snow is not neutral (Frunze Military Academy Maxim).

The tank is a monument to the inaccuracy of indirect fire.

War is the unfolding of miscalculations (Barbara Tuchman).

Perfect is the enemy of good enough (Admiral Gorshkov)

He who wants to defend everything defends nothing (Frederick the Great).

If they're shooting at you, it's a high intensity conflict.

Artillery adds dignity to what would otherwise be a vulgar brawl.

Never draw fire; it irritates everyone around you.

A sucking chest wound is nature's way of telling you to slow down.

If at first you don't succeed, call for artillery.

If artillery doesn't succeed, call the Air Force.

Mine fields are not neutral--they attack both armies.

The Claymore you set points at you.

The effective radius of a hand grenade is always greater than the distance you can jump.

The effective radius of a hand grenade is greater than the average grunt can throw it.

A mortar barrage will only put one round on the intended target.  That round will be a dud.

There is no such thing as a convenient foxhole.

Odd objects attract fire---you are odd.

More aircraft are incapacitated by a shortage of spare parts than by enemy action.