Words of wisdom from U.S. armed forces training manuals (and...other sources)

  WISDOM FROM TRAINING MANUALS

  '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.' 
- US.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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'You, you, and you ... Panic. The rest of you, come with me.' 
 - Infantry Sgt.-

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

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

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The three most useless things in aviation are: Fuel at the base you just left, runway behind you and altitude above you. 
 -Basic Flight Training Manual-

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

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

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'If you see a bomb technician running, try to keep up with him.' 
 - Infantry Journal-

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'Yea, though I fly through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil...for I am at 50,000 feet and climbing.' 
 - Sign over SR71 Wing Ops-

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

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

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

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

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'Without ammunition the Air Force is just an expensive flying club.' 
 -Unknown Author-

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'If you hear me yell;"Eject, Eject, Eject!", the last two will be echoes.
If you say "What?" you'll be talking to yourself, because by then you'll be the pilot.'
 -Pre-flight Briefing from a Canadian F104 Pilot-

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'What do pilots and air traffic controllers have in common? 
If a pilot screws up, the pilot dies; but If ATC screws up, .... the pilot dies.' 
-Sign over Control Tower Door-

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

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The three most common expressions (or famous last words) in military aviation are:'Did you feel that?' 'What's that noise?' and 'Oh s...t!' 
-Authors Unknown-

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

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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.' 
- Emergency Checklist-

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

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'You know your landing gear is up if it takes full power to taxi to the terminal.' 

- Lead-in Fighter Training Manual -

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At age 24 my father flew 35 missions over Europe in WW2.  Later he was an instructor at the Air Force test pilot school.  He taught me to fly.  I soloed at 16, and later, flying jets for the Air Force, his advice helped me avoid a couple of otherwise-certain accidents.  His advice kept me and my crew alive.

I'll never forget what he taught, including this:

"I'd rather be lucky than good." 

 

(Hat tip: Greg Johnson, West Point '68)