Freedom is the sure possession of those alone who have the courage to defend it. – Pericles

My Take – If we want it, we have to be willing to defend it.  If we give up, then our freedoms slip away forever.  But the most effective way to defend our freedoms does not include lawyers or weapons.  It is when we exercise those freedoms that we defend them.  Politicians can easily strip us of things we don’t use very often, but when they try to take something that is commonly used by most people they will be tossed out on their ear if they’re lucky.

As long as our government is administered for the good of the people, and is regulated by their will; as long as it secures to us the rights of persons and of property, liberty of conscience, and of the press, it will be worth defending. — Andrew Jackson

My Take – Our strength as a nation is not in our arms or our wealth.  It is in our ability to honor the freedoms we have that we find our strength and safety.  All rights are the important rights.  The freedom of speech is as important as the freedom of the press is as important as the freedom to bear arms.  When one of our freedoms is threatened, all of them are threatened.  The freedom to bear arms may indeed deter a tyrant from taking power, but if the freedom to speak out and petition the government is lost, then there will be no peaceful way to keep our weapons from an encroaching government.  So long as our nation respects our freedoms, it will be worth the sacrifice and heartache defending it costs.

When I am without orders and unexpected occurrences arrive I shall always act as I think the honour and glory of my King and Country demand. But in case signals can neither be seen or perfectly understood, no captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of the enemy. — Lord Nelson

My Take – Your boss can’t always be there, and they can’t know about every circumstance you may encounter.  You have to have the initiative, skills, and nerve to figure things out on your own, preferably in a way that gets you closer to your goal.  Being able to find your own way not only achieves your immediate goals, but also shows your superiors that you are capable of much more.

In war there is no substitute for victory. — Douglas Macarthur

My Take – After destroying entire Roman armies during battles at the Trebia, Lake Trasemine, and Cannae, Hannibal looked to have his war with Rome won.  He had destroyed every army his opponent had sent after him, and Rome had lost not only a huge chunk of its forces, but also most of its best troops.  Rome was freeing slaves and emptying temples to arm them in order to keep from being overrun if Hannibal brought his army to town.  By the time that particular story wound its way to the end, his city was in ruins, his people were scattered as slaves, and he was dead.

So what happened?  Hannibal could have pretty much walked to the walls of Rome, demanded surrender, then destroyed the city after a brief, if costly, fight.  Instead, he moved off and started doing other things designed to bring Rome to its knees, but not destroy it.  His definition of victory appears to not to have Rome burnt, but to have it revert to a minor power, which Rome was able to thwart.  Rome, on the other hand, had one goal – survive.  At first, doing that meant not getting into a fight with Hannibal, but eventually it also meant attacking Carthage anywhere Hannibal wasn’t.  Keeping their efforts solely dedicated to those goals brought them to ultimate victory.

No matter how well things are going for you, always keep your ultimate goal in mind.  Nothing but success in achieving that goal matters.  Failing to take the initiative to get it, or letting distractions move you away from the path to success will almost certainly doom your effort.  It doesn’t have to be an earth-shattering goal such as a war or a fight.  It could be a goal of losing weight and getting into shape, or paying off your debts and saving money.  No matter what, focus on what you want to accomplish and make no excuses and brook no interference when you are working toward it.

From triumph to downfall is but a step. I have seen a trifle decide the most important issues in the gravest affairs. — Napoleon Bonaparte

My Take – Pay attention to the details.  The difference between comfort and freezing this morning was remembering to double-check that I had my new gloves.  The difference between an AR-15 and a club is making sure it’s cleaned, lubricated, and assembled properly.  Slow down, pay attention to the details, and life will get easier.

Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of the men who follow and of the man who leads that gains the victory. — George Patton

My Take – The young men and women that I see training at Fort Knox are equipped with some extraordinary hardware.  A lot of it is the descendent of the stuff we used in the 1990’s, but even more of it is stuff that we only imagined could be possible.  From surveillance, to weapons, to communications, to medicine, the battlefield of today is stocked full of technological wonders.

But that’s not what wins battles.  The training, leadership, discipline, and dedication of these people can and will move mountains if that is the mission given to them.  The technology and gear are only tools.  It is the people that use them that makes the difference.

Any soldier worth his salt should be antiwar. And still there are things worth fighting for. — Norman Schwarzkopf

My Take – I guess I count the time when I can say “I grew up” as when I quit looking forward to someone starting a war.  After the 7×24 video coverage of Desert Storm, brought to you by Disney and Marlboro, I was all fired up to go out and do some soldiering.  When they came around looking for people to send to aid in the Somalia effort, I lined up with a vigor.  Unfortunately, they didn’t need a Russian linguist in the Horn of Africa, so I was thanked, but turned down.  Then the Battle of Mogadishu happened, and we were riveted to information sources, both open and classified, to see what was going on.  That was my first inkling that war was more than just going out and shooting stuff and blowing up that which you can’t shoot,

Bosnia was the next thing that cut my enthusiasm to go out and be a heart breaker and a life taker.  Being in intelligence means that you get to see the sad images on CNN and in Newsweek and then you get to see reports on how it’s even worse than the press is saying.  When the UN was able to get injured civilians out of Sarajevo and to Landstuhl for treatment and placement with refugee organizations, I and several fellow shake-and-bake Serbo-Croat translators were sent to help the doctors talk to their patients.  Seeing women, children, and old people bear the wounds of war was extremely sobering, and sometime during one of my off times at Landstuhl, I grew up enough to not be eager to go off to war.

That’s not to say that there aren’t things worth fighting for.  Recognizing that war is an evil doesn’t negate the fact that it is occasionally a necessary evil.  Some things are indeed worth the cost, and waste, of war.  Being reluctant to go to war doesn’t make me a pacifist.  Recognizing the costs of war leads us to only fight when it is absolutely necessary, or at least it should.

I should have given more praise. – Arthur Wellesley

My Take – Appropriate praise is a wonderful motivator.  Not the “everyone gets a trophy and a medal” kind of praise, but rather I mean the occasional kind word or public recognition of a job well done.  Tell me every day how much you appreciate my effort no matter how much I actually produce is nice, but eventually it just becomes part of the background noise.  Telling me I’ve done well after I actually accomplish something means a whole lot more.