Military Wisdom

[Silent Earth]

WISDOM FROM MILITARY MANUALS

'If the enemy is in range, so are you.'-Infantry Journal-

'It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just bombed.'-US.Air Force Manual -

'Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword, obviously never encountered automatic weapons.'- General MacArthur -

'You, you, and you ... Panic. The rest of you, come with me.'- U.S. Marine Corp Gunnery Sgt.-

'Tracers work both ways.'-U.S. Army Ordnance Manual-

'Five second fuses only last three seconds.' -Infantry Journal -

The three most useless things in aviation are:Fuel in the bowser; Runway behind you; and Air above you.-Basic Flight Training Manual-

'Any ship can be a minesweeper. Once.' - Maritime Ops Manual -

'Never tell the Platoon Sergeant you have nothing to do.'-Unknown Marine Recruit-

'If you see a bomb technician running, try to keep up with him.'-USAF Ammo Troop-

'You've never been lost until you've been lost at Mach 3.'-Paul F. Crickmore (SR71 test pilot)-

'The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.'-Unknown Author-

'If the wings are traveling faster than the fuselage it has to be a helicopter -- and therefore, unsafe.'-Fixed Wing Pilot-

'When one engine fails on a twin-engine airplane,you always have enough power left to get you to the scene of the crash.'-Multi-Engine Training Manual-

'Without ammunition, the USAFis just an expensive flying club.' -Unknown Author-

'If you hear me yell;"Eject, Eject, Eject!", the last two will be echos.' If you stop to ask "Why?" you'll be talking to yourself, because you're the pilot.'-Pre-flight Briefing from a 104 Pilot-

'What is the similarity between air traffic controllers and pilots?If a pilot screws up, the pilot dies; butIf ATC screws up, .... the pilot dies.'-Sign over Control Tower Door-

'Never trade luck for skill.'-Author Unknown-

The three most common expressions (or famous last words)in military aviation are:'Did you feel that?''What's that noise?'and'Oh S...!' or (appended from the Arkansas Air National Guard):"Hold my beer and watch this!" -Authors Unknown-

'Airspeed, altitude and brains. Two are always needed to successfully complete the flight.'-Basic Flight Training Manual-

'Mankind has a perfect record in aviation - we have never left one up there!'- Unknown Author -

'Flying the airplane is more important than radioing your plightto a person on the ground incapable of understandingor doing anything about it.'-Emergency Checklist-

'The Piper Cub is the safest airplane in the world;it can just barely kill you.' - Attributed to Max Stanley (Northrop test pilot) -

'There is no reason to fly through a thunderstorm in peacetime.'-Sign over Squadron Ops Desk at Davis-Montham AFB, AZ-

'If something hasn't broken on your helicopter, it's about to.'-Sign over Carrier Group Operations Desk-

'You know that your landing gear is up and locked when it takes full power to taxi to the terminal.'- Lead-in Fighter Training Manual -

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!'

 

[Silent Earth]

Three most dangerous things in the British Army
1 An officer with a map
2 An officer with an idea
3 An officer with a plan

 

[Silent Earth]

In the British army the common infantry soldier often gets referred to using American slang as GRUNTS, no long after this became common a Chieftain MBT belonging to the British Army Of the Rhine was spotted with a hand written note on the turret saying GRUNT CRUNCHER


Years ago the Household Brigade made up of armoured regiments called themselves The Blues and Royals and The Life Guards, we just called them C**ts in tanks

 

[Maverick]

Three most dangerous things in the British Army
1 An officer with a map
2 An officer with an idea
3 An officer with a plan

Perhaps true in most military's including ours though the best dam land navigator I ever seen was a West Point Butter-Bar he also knew the hell out of artillery, he can call in ordinances and get them calibrated with in 2 rounds then have us lay suppressive fire calling in FFE simultaneously he had things running like a well oiled machine... A Butter-Bar of all people, ya he proved us wrong!

 

[Warriorhealer22]

When training the crewmembers of our Blackhawks in emergency procedures, I told them that whatever the situation, they have the rest of their lives to figure things out!

When asked if I was worried flying over enemy territory in an unarmored, unarmed helicopter in the back saving lives, I told them I had the patients to think about, either I was going to make it, or I wasn't. I train, I prepare and I do my best but there's too many things I cannot control so I do what I can. It must've worked.

 

[Gazrok]

Also seen these as "Murphy's Laws of Combat".

One of my favorites:

Never forget: your weapons were made by the lowest bidder.

Others:

Radar seems to fail at night, in the rain, in the fog...pretty much whenever you need it most.

A helicopter is 1000 moving parts all designed for one purpose: to kill the pilot.

Never share a foxhole with anyone braver than you are.