Military Wisdom

[ForresterModern]

A couple I picked up from some military friends (I never personally served):

From an Army Lieut.," when retreating you do not have to be the fastest man in the unit, just don't be the slowest."

From a former neighbor who had just left his military career as a nuclear sub engineer, who was so steeped in the lingo that everytime he dropped a tool he would call out "gravity op check!!"

2 quotes from Sgt Major Plumley from the book We Were Soldiers Once...And Young:

When asked if he was worried about close quarters combat with the enemy said "If they are close enough to kill us we'll be close enough to kill them."

And, when asked why he only carried a 45 semi side arm into battle instead of an M-15 replied "If and when I need one there will be plenty of them lying around on the ground."

[Old Hippie]

One day we arrived at the battalion office to find that some wag had placed a large white sticker on the door: QUESTION AUTHORITY.

By the end of the day, someone else had amended it:

Yes, SIR!

[Ian.MacAllan]

"The effectiveness of any modern military organization depends directly on the accuracy with which shafts can be set." ---US Army Technical Manual on servomechanisms.


The summer that I ran the rifle range at a Boy Scout camp two or three boys a week would come to me breathlessly saying they had been sent for "the rifle reports." The Scouts break them in early.


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[Geoff Withnell]

Back in the mists of time when I was in boot camp at Parris Island, we were shown a training film on bayonet fighting. This was the late 60's, but the film was an Army film of WWII vintage. At one point, the film told us "Your bayonet may become jammed in the body of the enemy. If this happens, fire a round, and the recoil will unstick the bayonet." Our Drill Instructors stopped the film. "You people (we were doing very well that day, so we were actually called people) have been here for several weeks. You should be able to tell what's wrong with this method." We were speechless. We were supposed to find fault with an official US Government film? "Ok, $#@*&!s, (not knowing the answer, we were no longer 'people'), if you still have rounds in your weapon, what are you doing letting the enemy get close enough so you can stab him?"

[Spartan Tartan]

if you still have rounds in your weapon, what are you doing letting the enemy get close enough so you can stab him?"

Geoff, I'll be honest...that was my first thought!

[Whidbey78]

Geoff, I'll be honest...that was my first thought!

Mine too.

[Jerry]

Geoff, I'll be honest...that was my first thought!

Mine too, and I was a sailor!

[Geoff Withnell]

Mine too, and I was a sailor!

At this point, we were 3-4 weeks into boot camp. We had already learned it was not wise to question "the Marine Corps Way". What we failed to remember was that this was an ARMY training film.

[Highlander31]

This comes from my oldest friend, Carl Riccelli. When I was looking at leaving for my first assignment, I asked him if there was anything he could tell me about his combat experience in Vietnam that might be helpful. He gave me the following advice.

"Never worry about the bullet with your name on it,...worry about the ones marked to whom it may concern."

[Mike_Oettle]

Highlander 31 wrote: “Never worry about the bullet with your name on it . . . worry about the ones marked to whom it may concern.”

When I was a boy I heard a radio play (we had no television in those days) about a soldier who came across an enemy ammunition dump where he found a shell with his regimental number on it. He blew up the dump and imagined that since the shell with his number on it had been destroyed, he would not be killed. I forget how the play ended, though . . .
Regards,
Mike