Article I:
I am an American, fighting in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense.

Article II:
I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command, I will never surrender the members of my command while they still have the means to resist.

Article III:
If I am captured, I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy.

Article IV:
If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information or take part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades. If I am senior, I will take command. If not, I will obey the lawful order of those appointed over me and will back them up in every way.

Article V:
When questioned, should I become a prisoner of war, I am required to give name, rank, service number, and date of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my country and its allies or harmful to their cause.

Article VI:
I will never forget that I am an American, fighting for freedom, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.

In the beginning of 1942, gloom was descending over the United States like a winter twilight. On all fronts, the United States and its allies were reeling from the blows of the Axis powers. In the Pacific, Japan had taken Malaya, Singapore, Java, Guam and Wake Island and was threatening the lifeline with Australia. On April 9, 1942, the "Battling Bastards of Bataan" in the Philippines finally laid down their arms. In the Atlantic, German U-boats were sinking American ships within sight of the U.S. coast. Britain was being strangled, and the German Wehrmacht was in the suburbs of Moscow. The Axis powers looked invincible.

In the midst of these dark days burst the light of the Doolittle Raid on Japan.

The U.S. Navy conceived the raid as a way to raise morale. It entailed launching Army twin-engine bombers from the deck of an aircraft carrier to bomb selected cities in Japan. It was a way to strike back. It was a way to demonstrate that no matter how bleak the future looked, the United States would not give up. Leading the attack was Army Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle. Jimmie Doolittle was an aviation pioneer and daredevil racer. He pioneered instrument flying. He won the Schneider Race for the Army in 1925. He pushed for higher octane gasoline for aircraft in the 1930s.

Doolittle trained the volunteer crews to take off their B-25B Mitchell bombers in only 450 feet instead of the usual 1,200. The planes were loaded aboard the USS Hornet in March 1942. The plan was to launch the bombers within 400 miles of the Japanese coast. They would then bomb their targets and continue to airfields in China. But Japanese picket boats discovered the task force about 800 miles off the coast, and the Army planes were launched immediately.

The 16 bombers struck Tokyo, Kobe, Nagoya and Yokohama. Because of the added distance, no plane was able to make the Chinese airfields. Most of the planes crash landed in China with one plane landing in the Soviet Union. Of the 75 fliers who landed in China three died in accidents and eight were captured by the Japanese. The rest returned to the United States.

The raid inflicted little physical damage to Japan, but it gave a needed lift to morale in the United States. In Japan, the psychological damage of the attack was more important. The Doolittle Raid convinced Adm. Isoruku Yamamoto, chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet, that he had to extend Japan's defensive perimeter. He aimed the extension at Midway Island. If Japan held that strategic mid-Pacific atoll, no carrier task force could approach. The battle of Midway in June 1942, was a decisive victory for the United States. Many called Midway the turning point of the war in the Pacific.

For his leadership of the raid, Jimmy Doolittle received the Medal of Honor.

From the Air Force Link, courtesy of American Forces Information Service

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person, who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
- John Stuart Mill

"If you can't get them to salute when they should salute and wear the clothes you tell them to wear, how are you going to get them to die for their country?"
- General George S. Patton Jr

"Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees."
- Last words of Gen. T.J. "Stonewall" Jackson

"I don't mind being called tough, since I find in this racket it's the tough guys who lead the survivors."
- Col Curtis LeMay

"A pint of sweat will save a gallon of blood."
- General George S Patton Jr

"It is well that war is so terrible, lest should grow too fond of it!"
- General Robert E. Lee

"There is no limit to the good you can do if you don't care who gets the credit."
- General George C. Marshall

"In no other profession are the penalties for employing untrained personnel so appalling or so irrevocable as in the military."
- General Douglas MacArthur

"I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."
- Nathan Hale

"Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country."
- President John F. Kennedy

"Nature has given us two eyes, two ears, and but one tongue, to the end that we should hear and see more than we speak."
- Socrates

"The greatest mistake you can make in this life is to be continually fearing that you will make one."
- Elbert Hubbard

The more you sweat in peace, the less you sweat in war.
- Ancient Chinese Proverb

"The greatest leader in the world could never win a campaign unless he understood the men he had to lead."
- General Omar Bradley

• To take charge of this post and all government property in view.
• To walk my post in military manner, keeping always on the alert and observing everything that takes place within sight or hearing.
• To report all violations of orders I am instructed to enforce.
• To repeat all calls from the posts more distant from the guardhouse than my own.
• To quit my post only when properly relieved.
• To receive, obey, and pass on to the sentry who relieves me all orders from the commanding officer, officer of the day, and officers and noncommissioned officers of the guard only.
• To talk to no one except in the line of duty.
• To sound the alarm in the case of fire or disorder.
• To call the corporal of the guard in any case not covered by instructions.
• To salute all officers and all colors and standards not cased.
• To be especially watchful at night and, during the time for challenging, to challenge all persons on or near my post and to allow no one to pass without proper authority.

• I will guard everything within the limits of my post and quit my post only when properly relieved.
• I will obey my special orders and perform all my duties in a military manner.
• I will report any violations of my orders, emergencies, and anything not covered in my instructions to the commander of the relief.

Operational - The level of war at which campaigns and major operations are planned, conducted, and sustained to accomplish strategic objectives within theatres or areas of operations.

Tactical - The level at which battles and engagements are planned and executed to accomplish military objectives assigned to tactical units or task forces.

O say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous flight
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there
O say, does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

On the shore dimly seen throught the mists of the deep
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes
What is that which the breeze o'er the towering steep
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam
In full glory reflected now shines on the stream.
`Tis the Star-Spangled Banner, Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and country, shall leave us no more?
Their blood was washed out their foul foot steps pollution
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave.
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Oh thus be it e'er when free men shall stand
Between their lov'd homes and war's desolation!
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that has made and presrv'd us a nation
And conquer we must when our cause is just

And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

1. Know yourself and seek self-improvement
2. Be technically and tactically proficient
3. Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions
4. Make sound and timely decisions
5. Set the example
6. Know your soldiers and look out for their welfare
7. Keep your soldiers informed
8. Develop a sense of responsibility in your subordinates
9. Ensure that the task is understood, supervised, and accomplished
10. Train your soldiers as a team
11. Employ your unit in accordance with its capabilities

1. Mission accomplishment
2. Troops' welfare

• Objective
• Offensive
• Mass
• Economy of Force
• Maneuver
• Unity of Command
• Security
• Surprise
• Simplicity

GEN James E. Cartwright, USA Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

GEN George W. Casey, Jr , USA Chief of Staff, U.S. Army

ADM Gary Roughead, USN Chief of Naval Operations

GEN James T. Conway, USMC Commandant, U.S. Marine Corps

GEN T. Michael Moseley, USAF Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force

CMSAF Rodney J. McKinley, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force

OPERATIONAL CONTROL of the U.S. combat forces is assigned to the nation's Unified Combat Commands. The chain of command runs from the President to the Secretary of Defense to the Unified Commanders in Chief. Orders and other communications from the President or Secretary are transmitted through the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. A Unified Combatant Command is composed of forces from two or more services, has a broad and continuing mission and is normally organized on a geographical basis. The number of unified combatant commands is not fixed by law or regulation and may vary from time to time.
(see http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/almanac/ for more information)