Military Wisdom

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 "Aim towards the Enemy." - Instruction printed on US
 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 are very, very accurate.
 The bombs are guaranteed
 to always hit the ground." - USAF Ammo Troop

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 "If the enemy is in range, so are you." - Infantry
 Journal
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 "It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over
 the area you just bombed."
 - U.S. Air Force Manual

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 "Whoever said the pen is mightier than 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
 Corp Gunnery Sgt.

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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." -
 Anonymous

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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." - Your Buddies

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 "If you see a bomb technician running, follow him."
 - USAF Ammo Troop

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 "Though I Fly Through the Valley of Death .. I Shall
 Fear No Evil. For I am at
 80,000 Feet and Climbing." - At the entrance to the
 old SR-71 operating base
 Kadena, Japan

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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." - 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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 "Weather forecasts are horoscopes with numbers."

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 Airspeed, altitude and brains. Two are always needed
 to successfully complete
 the flight."

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 "A smooth landing is mostly luck; two in a row is
 all luck;

 three in a row is prevarication."

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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

 for the purpose of storing dead batteries."

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 "Flying the airplane is more important than radioing
 your plight to a person on
 the ground incapable of understanding or doing
 anything about it."

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 "When a flight is proceeding incredibly well,
 something was forgotten."

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 "Just remember, if you crash because of weather,
 your funeral

 will be held on a sunny day."

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 Advice given to RAF pilots during WWII: "When a
 prang (crash) seems inevitable,
 endeavor to strike the softest, cheapest object in
 the vicinity as slow and
 gently as possible."

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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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 "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."

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 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)