Murphy’s Laws of Combat

Murphy’s Laws of Combat
Recommended by: Jim Cook

• Recoiless rifles…aren’t.
• Suppressive fire…..won’t.
• Friendly fire…..isn’t.
• Automatic weapons….aren’t.
• Incoming fire has right-of-way.
• If the enemy is in range, so are you.
• When in doubt, empty the magazine.
• A sucking chest wound is nature’s way of telling you it’s time to slow down.
• Never draw fire, it irritates everyone around you.
• Anything you do can get you shot…including doing nothing.
• Make it tough enough for the enemy to get in and you won’t be able to get out.
• Never share a foxhole with anyone braver than yourself.
• Professionals are predictable, amateurs are dangerous.
• The easy way is always mined.
• Try to look unimportant, they may be low on ammo.
• No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy.
• If you’re short of everything but the enemy, you’re in a combat zone.
• If your attack is going really well, it’s an ambush.
• No combat-ready unit ever passed inspection.
• No inspection-ready unit ever passed combat.
• Communications will always fail the moment you need air or artillery support.
• If it’s stupid but works, it isn’t stupid.
• You are not Superman. (Freshly graduated recruits from Marine boot camp and all fighter pilots, especially, take note.)
• Never forget that your weapon was made by the lowest bidder.
• When both sides are convinced that they are about to lose; they are both right.
• Don’t look conspicuous, it draws fire (This is why aircraft carriers are called bomb magnets.
• All five-second grenade fuses will brun down in three seconds.
• If you are forward of your position, the artillery will fall short
• The enemy diversion you are ignoring is the main attack.
• The important things are always simple
• The simple things are always hard
• When you have secured an area, don’t forget to tell the enemy.
• If the enemy are in range, SO ARE YOU.
• Beer math is: Two beers times 37 men equal 49 cases.
• Body count math is: Two guerrillas plus one portable plus two pigs equal 37 enemy KIA
• Things that must be together to work, usually can’t be shipped together.
• Tracers work BOTH ways.
• The only thing more accurate than incoming enemy fire is incoming friendly fire.
• If you take more than your fair share of objectives, you will have more than your fair share of objectives to take
• Professional soldiers are predictable, but the world is full of amateurs
• Murphy was a grunt.