Out of Pod Experience

The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries
Description
The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries is a self-help book for mercenaries, privateers, and pretty much anybody who acts roguish.
1. Pillage, then burn
2. A Sergeant in motion outranks a Lieutenant who doesn't know what's going on .
3. An ordnance technician at a dead run outranks everybody
4. Close air support covereth a multitude of sins
5. Close air support and friendly fire should be easier to tell apart,
6. If violence wasn’t your last resort, you failed to resort to enough of it
7. If the food is good enough the grunts will stop complaining about the incoming fire.
8. Mockery and derision have their place. Usually, it's on the far side of the airlock
9. Never turn your back on an enemy
10. Sometimes the only way out is through... through the hull
11. Everything is air-droppable at least once
12. A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head
13. Do unto others
14. "Mad Science" means never stopping to ask "what's the worst thing that could happen?" .
15. Only you can prevent friendly fire
16. Your name is in the mouth of others: be sure it has teeth
17. The longer everything goes according to plan, the bigger the impending disaster
18. If the officers are leading from in front, watch for an attack from the rear
19. The world is richer when you turn enemies into friends, but that's not the same as you being richer.
20. If you're not willing to shell your own position, you're not willing to win
21. Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Take his fish away and tell him he's lucky just to be alive, and he'll figure out how to catch another one for you to take tomorrow
22. If you can see the whites of their eyes, somebody's done something wrong
23. The company mess and friendly fire should be easier to tell apart
24. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a big gun
25. If a manufacturer's warranty covers the damage you do, you didn't do enough damage
26. "Fire and Forget" is fine, provided you never actually forget.
27. Don't be afraid to be the first to resort to violence
28. If the price of collateral damage is high enough, you might be able to get paid to bring ammunition home with you
29. The enemy of my enemy is my enemy's enemy, no more, no less
30. A little trust goes a long way. The less you use, the further you'll go
31. Only cheaters prosper
32. Anything is amphibious if you can get it back out of the water
33. If you're leaving tracks, you're being followed
34. If you’re leaving scorch-marks, you need a bigger gun
35. That which does not kill me has made a tactical error
36. When the going gets tough, the tough call for close air support
37. There is no 'overkill.' There is only 'open fire' and 'reload.'
38. What's easy for you can still be hard on your clients.
39. There is a difference between "spare" parts and "extra" parts
40. Not all good news is enemy action.
41. "Do you have a backup?" means "I can't fix this.
42. "They'll never expect this" means "I want to try something stupid."
43. If it's stupid and it works, it's still stupid and you're lucky
44. If it will blow a hole in the ground, it will double as an entrenching tool.
45. The size of the combat bonus is inversely proportional to the likelihood of surviving to collect it.
46. Don't try to save money by conserving ammunition.
47. Don't expect the enemy to cooperate in the creation of your dream engagement.
48. If it ain't broke, it hasn't been issued to the infantry.
49. Every client is one missed payment from becoming a target
50. Every target is one bribe away from becoming a client.
51. Let them see you sharpen the sword before you fall on it.
52. The army you've got is never the army you want
53. The intel you've got is never the intel you want
54. It's only too many troops if you can't pay them.
55. It's only too many weapons if they're pointing in the wrong direction.
56. Infantry exists to paint targets for people with real guns
57. Artillery exists to launch large chunks of budget at an enemy if cannot actually see.
58. The pen is mightiest when it writes orders for swords.
59. Two wrongs is probably not going to be enough
60. Any weapon's rate of fire is inversely proportional to the number of available targets.
61. Don't bring big grenades into small rooms."
62. Anything labeled "This End Toward Enemy" is dangerous at both ends.
63. The brass knows how to do it by knowing who can do it
64. An ounce of sniper is worth a pound of suppressing fire
65. After the toss, be the one with the pin, not the one with the grenade.
66. Necessity is the mother of deception.
67. If you can't carry cash, carry a weapon.
68. Negotiating from a position of strength does not mean you shouldn’t also negotiate from a position near the exits[ .
69. Sometimes rank is a function of firepower.
70. Failure is not an option. It is mandatory. The option is whether or not to let failure be the last thing you do."

"It's going to be OK" - Gene Roddenberry as his Pan Am flight plumetted into the Syrian desert with a wing in flames.

If you don't know this story, go read it.

Funny how many cool quotes of Allied generals from WWII can be found and how hard it is to find any cool quotes from Axis generals. So I had to do a lot of internet research to dig at least some of them up, in an attempt to bring balance to the force(s):

"Gentlemen, you fought like lions...but you were led by donkeys."
Field Marshal Erwin Rommel

"Sweat saves blood. Blood saves lives. Brains saves both"
Erwin Rommel

"Please don't worry about me, I'm a hopeless optimist."
Last words of Grand Admiral Wilhelm Canaris when facing his execution squad

I couldn't find any remarkable quotes by Japanese officers however..maybe they were never translated into English?

Maybe it's a cultural thing, Western military just keep doing what Julius Caesar started...

Children are the only STD that can not be legally cured.

Even if you die twice if you come back to life, it's still 100%, not 200%.

I have too many skills.

-Nobody

The wages of sin is death but so is the salary of virtue, and at least the evil get to go home early on Fridays.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. ~ Arthur C Clarke

Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology. ~ Pterry