More Jarheadedness...

Col. Mike Lowe, the commander of Marine Corps Base Quantico was asked to speechify:

"Basically, I was told to talk about what I have learned over the last 28 years of leading Marines.

Well, I have only learned eight things, and it will only take me about 60 seconds to share them with you.

Now that I think of it, if I had been invited to speak to you the day Charlie Company formed up, I could have probably saved you six months of TBS training.

I thought I would get this structured portion out of the way up front so I could talk about anything I want to, so here goes.

1. Seek brilliance in the basics, always do the right thing. And have a plan to kill everyone you meet.

2.If you are riding at the head of the herd, look back every now and then and make sure it is still there.

3. Never enter an hour-long firefight with 5 minutes of ammo.


4.This one is really important for all of you born north of Washington, DC. Never, never kick a cow chip on a hot day.

5.If you're not shooting, and I can see by your marksmanship badges that some of you are challenged in this area, you better be communicating or reloading for another Marine.

6. There are three types of leaders. Those who learn from reading, those who learn from observation, and those who still have to touch the electric fence to get the message.

7. Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammo is cheap.

8.And finally, you might want to write this one down: Never slap a grown man who has a mouth full of chewing tobacco

Now that I’ve put that check in "proper military instruction" block, are there any questions? Of course not! What a stupid question to ask a bunch of lieutenants so close to graduation! Now that I think of it, my TBS class stopped asking questions after the first two weeks."