MURPHY'S LAWS OF COMBAT


  • You are not supermen. (Freshly graduated Para recruits and all fighter pilots, especially take note.)
  • Suppressive fire - won't
  • If it's stupid but works, it isn't stupid.
  • Don't look conspicuous - it draws fire.
  • When in doubt, empty the magazine.
  • Never share a trench with anyone braver than you.
  • Never forget that your weapon was made by the lowest bidder.
  • If your attack is going really well, it's an ambush.
  • No plan survives the first contact intact.
  • All five second grenade fuses will bum down in three seconds.
  • Try to look unimportant, because the enemy may be low on ammunition.
  • If you are forward of your position, the artillery will fall short.
  • When you have secured an area, don't forget to tell the enemy.
  • Incoming fire has the right-of-way.
  • The enemy diversion you are ignoring is the main attack.
  • The important things are always simple.
  • The simple things are always hard.
  • The easy way is always mined.
  • If you are short of everything except enemy, you are in combat.
  • No combat ready unit has ever passed inspection.
  • No inspection-ready unit has ever passed combat.
  • If the enemy is in range, SO ARE YOU!
  • Friendly fire - isn't.
  • Things that must be together to work usually can't be transported together.
  • Radios will fail as soon as you need fire support.
  • Anything you do can get you shot - including doing nothing.
  • Make it too tough for the enemy to get in, and you can't get out.
  • Tracer works 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 to take.
  • When both sides are convinced they are about to lose, they are both right.
  • Professional servicemen are predictable, but the world is full of amateurs.