EVERYTHING ELSE I LEARNED ABOUT LIFE, I LEARNED IN MILITARY INTELLIGENCE
Written by Cpl (ret) "Durty" Dan Leger

• Say what you think is happening, say what you know is happening, estimate the outcome and always make the differentiation when you do.

• True professionalism: If you don't know -- say you don't know. Lying should be left to amateurs.

• If you find the answer to a question on your own, you'll remember it longer than if somebody just told you the answer.

• If you can't keep a secret, you're no good to anybody.

• A good reputation is important -- the key to a good reputation is perfection. However, you will often find that the real trick to perfection is a person's ability to catch and correct their mistakes before anyone else notices them.

• It never hurts to be sneaky.

• Unbiased opinions don't exist.

• Never jump to conclusions.

• The fact that you're right has nothing to do with whether or not you'll be listened to.

• You don't have to beat somebody to get the information you want out of them.

• To understand a culture you must learn their history, never dismiss a culture's potential just because they're not as advanced as your own.

• The world is constantly changing and within your lifetime some of your allies will become enemies and some of your enemies will become allies.

• Sometimes democracy doesn't work, but it has a better track record than communism.

• Never rely on your memory, that's what reference materials are for.

• Underestimation is just as dangerous as overestimation.

• There are three types of people:
  1. Those that know what they're doing;

  2. Those who don't know what they're doing; and

  3. Those who don't know what they're doing but make it appear as if they do know what they're doing.

  The last type is the most dangerous

• War sucks.

• Military Intelligence is NOT a contradiction in terms.

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