Wisdom from the Military

[Hondo]

"Wisdom from the Military................?"

"If the Enemy is in range, so are you."
- Infantry Journal
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"It is generally inadvisable to eject over the area you just bombed"
- U.S. Air Force Manual
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"Aim towards the Enemy"
- Instructions printed on U.S. Rocket Launcher
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"When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is not our friend."
- U.S. Marine Corps
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"Cluster bombing from B-52s is very, very accurate.
The bombs are guaranteed always to hit the ground."
- USAF Ammo Troop
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"Whoever said the pen is mightier then the sword
obviously never encountered automatic weapons."
- General MacArthur
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"Try to look unimportant; they may be low on ammo."
- Infantry Journal
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"You, you, and you. Panic. The rest of you come with me."
- U.S. Marine Gunnery Sgt. (Mgysgt5)
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"Tracers work both ways."
- U.S. Army Ordnance
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"Five second fuses only last three seconds"
- Infantry Journal
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"Don't ever be the first, don't ever be the last,
and don't ever volunteer to do anything."
- U.S. Navy Swabbie
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"Bravery is being the only

one who knows you're afraid."
- David Hackworth
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"If your attack is going too well, you're walking into an ambush."
- Infantry Journal
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"No combat-ready unit has ever passed inspection."
- Joe Gay
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"Any ship can be a minesweeper. Once."
- unknown
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"Never tell the Platoon Sergeant you have nothing to do."
- Unknown Marine Recruit
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"Don't draw fire; it irritates the people around you."
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"If you see a bomb technician running, follow him."
- USAF Ammo Troop
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"You've never been lost until you've been lost at Mach 3."
- Paul

F. Crickmore (test pilot)
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"The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire."
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"Blue water Navy truism: There are more planes in the ocean than
submarines in the sky."
- & gt;From an old carrier sailor
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"If the wings are traveling faster than the fuselage, it's probably
a helicopter -- and therefore, unsafe."
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"When one engine fails on a twin-engine airplane, you always have
enough power left to get you to the scene of the crash."
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"Without ammunition, the USAF would be just another expensive flying club."
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"What is the similarity between air traffic controllers and

pilots?
If a pilot screws up, the pilot dies; If ATC screws up.... The pilot dies."
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"Never trade luck for skill."
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The three most common expressions (or famous last words) in aviation are:
"Why is it doing that?", "Where are we?" And "Oh S...!"
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"Weather forecasts are horoscopes with numbers."
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"Airspeed, altitude and brains.
Two are always needed to complete the flight successfully."
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"Mankind has a perfect record in aviation; we never left one up there!"
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"Flashlights are tubular metal containers kept in a flight bag
to store dead batteries."
-----------------------------

-------------------------
"Flying the airplane is more important than radioing your plight to a
person on the ground who is incapable of understanding
or doing anything about it."
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"The Piper Cub is the safest airplane in the world;
it can just barely kill you."
- Attributed to Max Stanley (Northrop test pilot)
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"A pilot who doesn't have any fear probably isn't flying
his plane to its maximum."
- Jon McBride, astronaut
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"If you're faced with a forced landing, fly the thing
as far into the crash as possible."
- Bob Hoover (renowned aerobatic and test pilot )
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"A slipping gear could let your M203 grenade launcher fire when you
least expect it. That would make you quite unpopular in what's

left
of your unit."
- Army's magazine of preventive maintenance.
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"Never fly in the same cockpit with someone braver than you."
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"There is no reason to fly through a thunderstorm in peacetime."
- Sign over squadron ops desk at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ, 1970
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"If something hasn't broken on your helicopter, it's about to."
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Basic Flying Rules: "Try to stay in the middle of the air.
Do not go near the edges of it.
The edges of the air can be recognized by the
appearance of ground, buildings, sea, trees and interstellar space.
It is much more difficult to fly there."
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"You know that your landing gear is up and locked
when it takes full

power to taxi to the terminal."
----------------------------- ----------------------------- --
As the test pilot climbs out of the experimental aircraft, having
torn off the wings and tail in the crash landing, the crash truck
arrives, the rescuer sees a bloodied pilot and asks, "What happened?".
The pilot's reply, "I don't know, I just got here myself!"
- Attributed to Ray Crandell (Lockheed test pilot)
***************
By - Wit and Wisdom from Military Manuals - lol

 

[Diamondback]

"You know that your landing gear is up and locked
when it takes full
power to taxi to the terminal."

Yeah, some B-1 jockeys found that out the hard way. Ever seen an almost $300mil bomber on it's belly?

"The rest of the story..."

 

[Harp]

"Your primary objective is to stay alive; if at all possible." lol

 

[Zemke Fan]

An oxymoron...

Wisdom from the military... sorta like happily married... or military intelligence...

 

[Diamondback]

Naw, military intelligence does exist, it's just ya gotta know where to look. (Usually concentrated into the heads of grizzled old Sarges...)

 

[Story]

You want military wisdom?

There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.

"That's some catch, that Catch-22," he observed.

"It's the best there is," Dr. Daneeka agreed."

 

[Diamondback]

That's why you approach it with the "concern for your squadronmates" angle, like "I can do this, but you gotta know I can border on psycho. *crazed look in eye* Are you sure you wanna entrust a crew and plane to someone like me? Just saying, it could potentially be a problem... That said, *triggerhappy look* bring on that target! *mild twitching, ostensibly "anticipation"*"

Make it look like you're worried about the good of the unit rather than yourself, and...

 

[Zemke Fan]

My favorite WWII movie dialogue...

"That's some catch, that Catch-22," he observed. "It's the best there is," Dr. Daneeka agreed."

Used it for the lead to my story: "Return of the Hat" in Classic Style # 1.

 

["Doc" Devereux]

The four most useless things in the world are airspace above you, runway behind you, fuel in the bowser and ten seconds ago.

 

[The Wingnut]

Bachelor of Science degree: $75,000

Rockwell B-1B: $300,000,000

USAF bomber pilot training: $700,000

Using a high school education to recover and repair what a college education pranged:

PRICELESS!

 

[The Wingnut]

 

[Diamondback]

Bachelor of Science degree: $75,000

Rockwell B-1B: $300,000,000

USAF bomber pilot training: $700,000

Using a high school education to recover and repair what a college education pranged:

PRICELESS!

lol lol Yep, that's about how the old maintenance troops who forwarded me that link saw it, too!

 

[The Wingnut]

...I'm probably spamming at this point, but I can't get enough of Col. Stevens.

 

[Spitfire]

There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.

"That's some catch, that Catch-22," he observed.

"It's the best there is," Dr. Daneeka agreed."

:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap
Best book ever on military wisdom. Love it!

 

[DeeDub]

S**t rolls downhill.
-Anonymous leading petty officer, (uphill from me at the time)

 

[60Years2Late]

Well, this isn't so much military wisdom...

This isn't as much military wisdom as it is a rather humorous, though unfortunate irony. I'm stationed on Camp Pendleton, currently, and I thought I'd bring this up. You see, in the air station medical, the aid station opens at 0730. Sick call begins immediately. Sick call is designed so that those without appointments may come in and be treated for sudden illnesses. However, due to the large number of sickcall patients, one must attain an appointment for sickcall. This would be wonderful, except that one must also fill out and have approved by your command a special libo chit in order to go to medical, and it has to be turned in at least a day prior. Now, assuming you get your appointment to go make an appointment, you then have to design your appointment around the whole "Day Prior" rule. That said, most shops won't release their Marines until after passdown is over--0730. Which means that you then go to FOD walk. Now you're stuck till 0900. Now, you can't go to medical in coveralls, so you have to change into cammies. 1000. Now you go to medical. Medical is closed from 1100 until 1300. You have to be back at the shop by 1500 in order to receive the end of shift passdown and ATAF. Now, that said, how many people do you think are making appointments at 1400?

I just think it's ironic that it takes roughly two weeks to get seen for a common cold, only to get told to take two motrin and drink more water. And the fact that you have to arrange two appointments, fill out two request chits, and jump through a hoop to go to sick call--again, designed so that those without an appointment can be seen for sudden illness...

You do the math.

 

[Twitch]

"WIsdom from the military" is a oxymoron if I every heard one!!

 

[Diamondback]

Rule #1. The Sarge is ALWAYS Right.
Rule #2. The Sarge may be erroneous, inaccurate, or incorrect, but he is NEVER Wrong. If he is, see Rule #1.

That said, God bless all Sarges and their Navy counterparts the Chiefs--they're the ones that really keep everything going...

 

[Nashoba]

Well this comes from a Military Spouse. I hope you'll indulge me.

Never count on 'the word' because it doesn't matter what the word is, in five minutes it's gonna change. I've spent half my marraige waiting for my husband because of it. Semper Gumby

Also learn to laugh at the stupid stuff. If you don't you'll go insane.
I just bought a tinkerbell mirror for my office at the unit that has inscribed on the glass 'Think Happy Thoughts'. I'm hoping it will help...

60years2late: Dealing with Tricare is just about as much fun and makes just about as much sense.

 

[60Years2Late]

God. TriCare is enough of a pain that a lot of the wives I know just pay out of pocket. A sergeant I know, whose name I won't name since the Marine Corps is so small, his wife has permanant damage from a Navy nurse screwing her all up during the birth of their child. I won't go into the story, it just ticks me off. But it was rather long, and really just insulting. Bad enough that she got court martialled and discharged. But yeah, Tricare is a joke.

As for the happy thoughts, good luck. We keep little pictures of "Swifty" in the shop (Swifty is our Squadron Mascot. We're the purple foxes, he's a purple cartoon fox head.) On the printout it's got Swifty's head with "Bang head here." The caption reads: "Work stressing you? Let Swifty help. Follow the directions in the box, repeat as necessary."

Seriously, though, as a Marine, I gotta thank your being a Marine spouse. That's the toughest job in the Corps, and you gals really do help us out. Unit functions wouldn't go anywhere without y'all.