DAVO'S VIETNAM WAR HOMECOMING TO AUSTRALIA, JULY 1968

  Murphy's Laws for Combat Operations

Any of this sound familiar?

  1. Incoming fire has right of way.
  2. If the enemy is in range, so are you.
  3. Don't look conspicuous, it draws fire.
  4. If it's stupid and it works, it ain't stupid.
  5. When in doubt, empty your magazine.
  6. The easy way is always mined.
  7. Try to look important, as they may be low on ammo.
  8. Teamwork is essential, it gives them somebody else to shoot at.
  9. Never draw fire, it irritates everyone around you.
  10. Never share a weapon pit with anyone braver than you.
  11. No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.
  12. Your weapon was made by the lowest bidder.
  13. The only thing more accurate than enemy fire is friendly incoming fire.
  14. When you have secured the area, don't forget to tell the enemy.
  15. Make it tough enough for the enemy to get in and you won't be able to get out.
  16. If your attack is really going well, it's an ambush.
  17. If your short on anything but the enemy, your in a combat zone.
  18. The enemy invariably attacks on only two occasions, when you ready and when your not.
  19. A sucking chest wound is natures way of telling you to slow down.
  20. The important things are always simple.
  21. The simple things are always hard.
  22. Friendly fire - isn't.
  23. No combat ready unit has ever passed inspection.
  24. Beer math is: two beers times 37 men = 49 cases.
  25. Body count math is: two guerillas plus one portable plus two pigs = 37 enemy killed in action.
  26. Things that must be together to work, usually aren't shipped together.
  27. Radio's will fail as soon as you need fire support desperately.
  28. Tracers work both ways.
  29. If you take more than your fair share of objectives, you will have more than your fair share of objectives to take.
  30. When both sides are convinced that they are about to lose, they are both right.
  31. Professional soldiers are predictable, but the world is full of amateurs.
  32. Anything you do can get you shot, including doing nothing.
  33. Murphy was a grunt.

 

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