MURPHY’S LAWS OF COMBAT

1. If the enemy is in range, so are you.

2. Incoming fire has the right of way.

3. There is always a way.

4. The easy way is always mined.

5. Professionals are predictable, it's the amateurs that are dangerous.

6. The enemy invariably attacks on two occasions:

a. When you're ready for them.

b. When you're not ready for them.

7. Teamwork is essential, it gives them someone else to shoot at.

8. The enemy diversion you have been ignoring will be the main attack.

9. A sucking chest wound is nature's way of telling you to slow down.

10. If your attack is going well, you have walked into an ambush.

11. Never draw fire, it irritates everyone around you.

12. Anything you do can get you shot, including nothing.

13. Never share a foxhole with anyone braver than yourself.

14. Never forget that your weapon is made by the lowest bidder.

15. Friendly fire isn't.

16. If the sergeant can see you, so can the enemy.

17. Never stand when you can sit, never sit when you can lie down, never stay awake when you can sleep.

18. The most dangerous thing in the world is a second lieutenant with a map and a compass.

19. Remember, a retreating enemy is probably just falling back and regrouping.

20. If at first you don't succeed call in an air-strike.

21. The enemy never watches until you make a mistake.

22. One enemy soldier is never enough, but two is entirely too many.

23. Field experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

24. Interchangeable parts aren't.

25. No matter which way you have to march, its always uphill.

26. If enough data is collected, a board of inquiry can prove ANYTHING.

27. The tough part about being an officer is that the troops don't know what they want, but they know for certain what they DON'T want.

28. To steal information from a person is called plagiarism. To steal information from the enemy is called gathering intelligence.

29. When you have sufficient supplies and ammunition, the enemy takes two weeks to attack. When you are low on supplies and ammunition the enemy decides to attack that night.

30. The newest and least experienced soldier will usually win the Medal Of Honour.

31. A Purple Heart just goes to prove that were you smart enough to think of a plan, stupid enough to try it, and lucky enough to survive.

32. If its stupid but it works, it isn't stupid.

33. When in doubt empty the magazine.

34. No plan survives the first contact, intact.

35. The important things are always simple.

36. The simple things are always hard.

37. Things that must be together to work, usually can't be shipped together.

38. Tracers work both ways

39. The only thing more accurate than incoming enemy fire is incoming friendly fire.

40. When both sides are convinced they are about to lose, they're both right.