Military Wisdom

Being from a military family, I found these fun (and smart!):

• "If the enemy is in range, so are you." ~ Infantry Journal
• "It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just bombed." ~ U.S. Air Force Manual
• "You, you, and you... Panic. The rest of you, come with me." ~ U.S. Marine Corp Gunnery Sgt.
• "Never tell the Platoon Sergeant you have nothing to do." ~ Unknown Marine Recruit
• Clean it, if it's dirty. Oil it, if it squeaks. But: Don't screw with it if it works! ~ USAF Electronic Technician
• "If you see a bomb technician running, keep up with him." ~ USAF - Ammo Troop
• "You've never been lost until you've been lost at Mach 3." ~ Paul F. Crickmore (test pilot)
• "The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire."
• "Never trade luck for skill."
• The 3 most common expressions (or famous last words), in aviation are: "Why is it doing that?" "Where are we?" and "Oh, shit!"
• "Airspeed, altitude and brains. Two out of three are needed to successfully complete the flight."
• "Mankind has a perfect record in aviation. We've never left one up there!"
• "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!"

I'm smiling, but my heart is in my throat for all the men and women standing in harm's way to protect the rest of us.