60 Rules of Combat they never taught you. (but you learned, or will learn on the job)

1.  You are not Superman.

2.  Recoilless rifles aren't.

3.  Suppressive fire won't.

4.  If it's stupid, but it works, it ain't stupid.

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

6.  When in doubt empty the magazine.

7.  Never share a foxhole with someone braver then you are.

8.  Your weapon was made by the lowest bidder.

9.  If you can't remember, the claymore is pointed toward you.

10. All five-second grenade fuses are three seconds.

11. Try to look unimportant; they may be low on ammo.

12. If you are forward of your position, the artillery will be short.

13. The enemy diversion you are ignoring is the main attack.

14. The important things are always simple.

15. The simple things are always hard.

16. If you're short of everything except the enemy, you're in combat.

17. Incoming fire has the right of way.

18. No combat-ready unit has ever passed inspection.

19. No inspection-ready unit has ever passed combat.

20. Teamwork is essential.  It gives them other people to shoot at.

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

22. Tracers work both ways.

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

24. Radios will fail as soon as you need fire support.

25. When both sides are convinced that they are about to lose, they are both right.

26. All-weather close support doesn't work in bad weather.

27. The bursting radius of a grenade is always one foot greater than your jumping range.

28. The only terrain that is truly controlled is the terrain upon which you are standing.

29. The law of the bayonet says the man with the bullets wins.

30. REMF's (Rear Echelon Mother F*#@ers) are everywhere.

31. The best tank killer is another tank.  Therefore tanks are always fighting each other, and have no time to help the infantry.

32. Precision bombing is normally accurate to within one mile or so.

33. Don't look conspicuous, it draws fire.

34. Cluster bombing from B-52s and C130s is very, very accurate.  They always hit the ground.

35. Perfect plans aren't.

36. Friendly fire isn't.

37. The easy way is always mined or booby-trapped.

38. The side with the fanciest uniforms loses.

39. Professionals are predictable; it's the amateurs that are dangerous.

40. Armored vehicles are bullet magnets, moving foxholes that attract attention and enemy fire.

41. No plan survives the first few seconds of combat.

42. Expending armaments in combat is easier than filling out Graves Registration forms.  Ammo is cheap; your life isn't.

43. Just because you can't see the enemy, don't for a minute believe they can't see you.

44. Final Protective Fire doesn't.

45. The enemy invariably attacks on two occasions:  When you're ready for them, and when you're not.

46. A sucking chest wound sucks.

47. If your attack is going well, you've just walked into an ambush.

48. Anything you do can get you killed, including nothing.

49. Make it too tough for the enemy to get in and you won't be able to get out.

50. When you have secured an area, don't forget to tell the enemy.

51. When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is no longer on our side.

52. Mines and booby-traps are equal-opportunity weapons.

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

54. Don't ever be the first, don't ever be the last, and don't ever volunteer to do anything.

55. If you are a pilot, it is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just bombed.

56. Eat or sleep every time you stop.  You may not get another chance for days.

57. Never stand when you can sit; never sit when you can lie down; never stay awake when you can sleep.

58. Things which must be shipped together as a set, aren't.

59. Things that must work together, can't be carried to the field that way.