A: She’s interested.
Q: Is he standing with his legs wide apart?
A: He’s getting ready to punch you.
“For a military cop, going into a bar is like a batter stepping up to the plate. It’s his place of business.”
Count the exits (there are usually three).
Work out which exits you can use.
Look at the crowd—where are the knots of trouble, who falls silent, who stares.
Look for weapons—antique revolvers, bottles, or—better—pool cues.
Stare everyone down.
Sit with your back to the wall, even if there are plenty of mirrors.
Call 911—the other guys are going to need an ambulance …
“It was a long, long time since he’d lost a two-on-one bar fight.”
A MEDLEY OF MILITARY ACRONYMS
ACU Army Combat Uniform
ALICE All-Purpose Lightweight Carrying Equipment
APFSDS Armor-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot
ATF Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms
BDU Battle Dress Uniform
COS Chief of Staff
CYA Cover Your Ass
DEA Drug Enforcement Agency
DIA Defense Intelligence Agency
DOD Department of Defense
HET Heavy Equipment Transporter
HRT Hostage Rescue Team
JAG Judge Advocate General
KIA Killed In Action
LAV Light Armored Vehicle
LGH Let’s Go Home
MASH Mobile Army Surgical Hospital
MIA Missing In Action
MPBN Military Police Battalion
MRE Meal, Ready to Eat
NCIC National Crime Information Center
PASGT Personal Armor System, Ground Troops
PH Public House
RIF Reduction In Force
RPG Rocket-Propelled Grenade
RTAFA Rotational Torque-Adjustable Fastener Applicators
SAC Special Agent in Charge
SEAL Sea Air and Land (U.S. Navy SEALs)
SOC Special Operations Capable
SOP Standard Operating Procedure
SSDD Same Shit, Different Day
SWAG Scientific Wild-Ass Guess
UNSUB Unknown Subject
USA PATRIOT ACT Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act
WTF Whisky Tango Foxtrot …
RESPECT YOUR OPPONENT
“Dealing with morons … is like teaching Hindu to a beagle.”
“He was in no imminent danger of winning the Nobel Prize but definitely smarter than the average bear.”
“He wasn’t the crispest shirt in the closet.”
“You’re pretty good for an old guy.” “That’s how I got to be an old guy,” McGrath said.
“You have a message? Who from? The National Association of Assholes?”
“He’d fallen out of the ugly tree and hit every branch.”
“I nodded amiably at the two of them. I figured they had less than an hour to live.”
“Guys like these, they couldn’t find their own assholes if I gave them a mirror on a stick.”
“He was an observant man. He had made his living by noticing details. He was living because he noticed details.”
Think about everything you’ve seen and heard. Work the clues.
>>KNOW THE SIGNS OF BEING UNDER SURVEILLANCE
unexplained cars
parked vans
pairs or trios of dressed-down people with wires in their ears
clean taxicabs with two people in them
pedestrians you see inexplicably in two different places
The width of a person’s wrists is the best indicator of his or her strength.
People don’t like searching above head height. If you want to hide something, hide it on the top shelf.
People hiding and waiting give off human vibrations. If you don’t feel them, they’re not there.
An elected official always has a separate brass plate. (It makes it cheaper when the guy changes every few Novembers.)
The easiest way to spot a hooker is by her big purse—hookers have to carry around a lot of stuff (condoms, massage oils, gun, credit card machine …).
If a lock doesn’t have scratches around it, then no one uses the door.
“I think Reacher’s the kind of guy that sees things five seconds before the rest of the world.”
Look, don’t see; listen, don’t hear. The more you engage, the longer you survive.
If somebody’s got money outside of his salary, it shows up somewhere.
“Suicide bombers give out all kinds of telltale signs. Mostly because they’re nervous. By definition, they’re all first-timers.”
>>THE PERFECT OBSERVATION POINT
A soldier knows that the perfect observation point provides:
An unobstructed view to the front
Adequate security to the flanks and rear
Protection from the elements
Concealment of observers
A reasonable likelihood of undisturbed occupation
A result
THE TWELVE SIGNS OF A SUICIDE BOMBER
(as identified by Israeli counterintelligence)
1. Inappropriate clothing—oversized or padded coat
2. A robotic walk—because of carrying unaccustomed weight
3. Irritability
4. Sweating
5. Tics
6. Nervous behavior
7. Low and controlled breathing, panting
8. Staring rigidly ahead
9. Mumbled prayers
10. A large bag
11. Hands in the bag
12. A lack of suntan from a fresh shave (male); lack of suntan from taking off a headscarf (female)
The U.S. Army Military Police
CODE OF ETHICS
I AM A SOLDIER IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY.
I AM OF THE TROOPS AND FOR THE TROOPS.
I HOLD ALLEGIANCE TO MY COUNTRY AND DEVOTION TO DUTY ABOVE ALL ELSE.
I PROUDLY RECOGNIZE MY OBLIGATION TO PERFORM MY DUTY WITH INTEGRITY, LOYALTY, AND HONESTY.
I WILL ASSIST AND PROTECT MY FELLOW SOLDIERS IN A MANNER THAT IS FAIR, COURTEOUS, AND IMPARTIAL.
I WILL PROMOTE, BY PERSONAL EXAMPLE, THE HIGHEST STANDARDS OF SOLDIERING, STRESSING PERFORMANCE AND PROFESSIONALISM.
I WILL STRIVE TO MERIT THE RESPECT OF OTHERS, SEEKING NO FAVOR BECAUSE OF POSITION BUT, INSTEAD, THE SATISFACTION OF A MISSION ACCOMPLISHED AND A JOB WELL DONE.
And
I DO NOT MESS WITH THE SPECIAL INVESTIGATORS.
REACHER’S MORAL CODE
“I don’t want to put the world to rights, I just don’t like people who put the world to wrongs.”
You reap what you sow.
“I have to warn you. I promised my mother, a long time ago. She said I had to give folks a chance to walk away.”