MURPHY'S LAWS OF COMBAT
Or: Never forget weapons are made by the lowest bidder
  1. You are not Superman. (Freshly graduated recruits from Viper and Primus and all Martial Artists, especially, take note.)
  2. Suppression fire - won't.
  3. If it's stupid but works, it isn't stupid.
  4. Don't look conspicuous - it draws fire.
  5. When in doubt, empty the magazine.
  6. Never forget your weapon was made by the lowest bidder.
  7. If your attack is going really well, it's an ambush.
  8. No plan survives the first contact intact.
  9. All five second grenade fuses will burn down in three seconds.
  10. Try to look unimportant because the bad guys may be running low on ammo.
  11. If you are forward of your position, the artillery will fall short.
  12. The enemy diversion you are ignoring is the main attack.
  13. The important things are always simple.
  14. The simple things are always hard.
  15. The easy way is always mined.
  16. If your are short of everything except enemy, you are in combat.
  17. When you have secured the area, don't forget to tell the enemy.
  18. Incoming fire has the right of way
  19. No combat ready unit has ever passed inspection.
  20. No inspection ready units has ever passed combat.
  21. If the enemy is in range, SO ARE YOU.
  22. Friendly fire - isn't.
  23. Things that must be together to work will not be shipped together.
  24. Radios will fail as soon as you need fire support desperately.  Corollary: RADAR tends to fail at night and in bad weather and especially during both.
  25. Anything you do can get you shot, including doing nothing.
  26. Make it too tough for the enemy to get in and you can't get out.
  27. Tracers work both ways.
  28. The only thing more accurate than incoming enemy fire is incoming friendly fire.
  29. If you take more than your fair share of objectives, you will have more that your fair share to take.
  30. When both sides are convinced they are about to lose, they're both right.
  31. Professional soldiers are predicable but the world is full of amateurs.
  32. Murphy's Law: anything that can go wrong, will.

    33. O'Toole's Corollary to Murphy's Law: Murphy was an optimist.
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