A reminder for the tribe: "Shined shoes save lives"

[H60DoorGunner]

General Norman Schwarzkopf is attributed with the quote "shined shoes save lives." Those of us fortunate enough to have shined our boots in the military or police force of yesteryear are familiar with the sentiment. For those who aren't, it means simply that those with the discipline to do the simplest of things such as shining your shoes every day, probably have the discipline to weather the more difficult things in life.

Shined shoes also command respect.

Maintaining self discipline in even the smallest things in life will pay dividends. Don't waste your potential or lose respect because of a lack of discipline.

[Gabriel Suarez]

I had the discipline to have two sets of uniform ready at all times. I wore the inspection-ready set when necessary...shine jump boots and Sam Browne, sparkling clean pistol, polished badge and medals, etc. But when I was finished with the dog and pony, I would go back into the lockeroom and change into my battle gear of subdued cloth badge and dull black GSG9 boots.

Joe Sixpack and Sally Soccermom may have been impressed by the sparkle during a traffic stop, but T-Dog and his homies were more impressed by you suddenly appearing among their midst in a dark alley like a demon after their souls and whispering a "Whatup bitches?" as your face appeared from the shadows.

Moral of the story...present a clean and polished appearance when needed, but be comfortable in the darkness...become a part of it actually and make it your bitch.

[Papa]

For most of my patrol gig I lived in the sticks. One trip down the driveway and my cruiser was spattered with mud or covered in dust.

Same with my boots. I was far more interested in whether I could run and fight and climb in my boots, so I kept two or three pair well-broken in. Shined boots were not in the usual rotation but reserved for court. I did not dryclean my uniforms except for class As, again for court. Uniforms went into the washer and dryer. So I wore out a lot of boots and uniforms.

60786

Any sparkle came from salt crystals.

Note that unless we were on a SWAT call or, surprisingly, assigned to SAR, we could not wear subdued patches on the standard uni shirt.

[H60DoorGunner]

I had the discipline to have two sets of uniform ready at all times. I wore the inspection-ready set when necessary...shine jump boots and Sam Browne, sparkling clean pistol, polished badge and medals, etc. But when I was finished with the dog and pony, I would go back into the lockeroom and change into my battle gear of subdued cloth badge and dull black GSG9 boots.

Joe Sixpack and Sally Soccermom may have been impressed by the sparkle during a traffic stop, but T-Dog and his homies were more impressed by you suddenly appearing among their midst in a dark alley like a demon after their souls and whispering a "Whatup bitches?" as your face appeared from the shadows.

Moral of the story...present a clean and polished appearance when needed, but be comfortable in the darkness...become a part of it actually and make it your bitch.

Absolutely, know your audience. Know what is appropriate and when.

As you say though, one must be disciplined enough to do both when necesarry. And even when you were dressed down, I'm betting you didn't let your discipline slip. To survive a war zone for years, regardless of your daily uniform, your discipline must be maintained absolutely. That was more my point.

[Ragsbo]

There is an antidote about Patton having his troops wear ties for the same reason.

[Chaos]

We had pretty uniforms for dog and pony shows.

We had utilitarian work uniforms for fighting.

We had our disciplined "Warrior Mindset" in both.

[TFA303]

Exactly right. The uniform is a tool, much like the gun. Making sure each is set up exactly how it needs to be to accomplish its mission is the point here.

Related, but not identical - clean cars run better.

[M1A's r Best]

In the army is was spit shined boots in garrison. Not just the capped toes/heels, the whole boot. I've seen people fight over someone stepping on scuffing up another guys boot. Might just get cussed out, but fail to apologize or pop out a smart ass reply the guy with the scuffed shine might smack the shit out of the scuffer. You learn to be careful where you walk, how you walk, etc. The field boots were just brushed with wax.

Later, in another job, I found out some people pay more attention to your face than the uniform. Some people pay more attention to the gun on your hip than anything else.

[H60DoorGunner]

Guys... none of this is specifically about shining your shoes. It's about having the discipline to do the small things in life, which in turn leads to the discipline to surmount the bigger things.

Like I told a kid I work with the other day, if you can't even keep your car clean, or maintain some semblance of a professional appearance at work; if you don't have the discipline to do those simple things, you probably can't manage more difficult things.

Do we always wear shined boots or wing tips? Fuck no. Half the people here probably don't even own shoes they can shine, but if you can't be bothered to do the small things in life, you'll probably screw up big things like setting up and using your gear properly, or screw around in training. If you don't have the discipline to "shine your shoes," you don't have the discipline to do anything important.

Aside from all that though, whether you like it or not, your appearance matters. Having the discipline to know how to appear in every situation can make or break you. From an undercover op to a major business deal in the board room, to dealing with customers who pay you thousands of dollars.

[Mr. Anthony]

"How you do one thing is how you do everything."

[H60DoorGunner]

"How you do one thing is how you do everything."

Bingo.

[Ben]

I was Aircrew P3-Orion. They didn't want us to polish our boots OR eat peanuts. 100% oxygen and greasy go boom in face (at least with the peanuts).

[Sgt. Psycho]

For most of my patrol gig I lived in the sticks. One trip down the driveway and my cruiser was spattered with mud or covered in dust.

Same with my boots. I was far more interested in whether I could run and fight and climb in my boots, so I kept two or three pair well-broken in. Shined boots were not in the usual rotation but reserved for court. I did not dryclean my uniforms except for class As, again for court. Uniforms went into the washer and dryer. So I wore out a lot of boots and uniforms.

60786

Any sparkle came from salt crystals.

Note that unless we were on a SWAT call or, surprisingly, assigned to SAR, we could not wear subdued patches on the standard uni shirt.


Is there a story behind you having that Sten Mk 2?

[Papa]

Is there a story behind you having that Sten Mk 2?

I wish. RP dimed out her ex, the Sarge seized it. We stripped it with tools at hand, cleaned and reassembled it, then checked to see if it it could fire on full chat. As you see, the bolt is open and it's cocked. I'm about to pull the trigger.
Holding the trigger back allowed the bolt to cycle freely until released. So SMG and not SBR. Homebuilt MK II/III without paperwork; illegal in this state either way.
Right handy, and I had a hard time giving it back for booking.

6078960790

Not too badly done.

[Sgt. Psycho]

Still a good story!

[Chaos]

Guys... none of this is specifically about shining your shoes. It's about having the discipline to do the small things in life, which in turn leads to the discipline to surmount the bigger things....

No worries, Brother. We all get it, we are just adding our own decoration to it....:wink:

[Cacti Rat]

I think Schwarzkopf is talking about building structure in your life and is using the spit shine as a metaphor; structure is a good thing. Some of the biggest shit bird Marines I've ever met wore spit shines.

[45Smashemflat]

Gun, horse, man

It doesn’t mean spit shine, it means taken care of and well maintained. I’m pushing 60 and still work in the field in engineering. The boots get wiped daily and conditioned weekly, it makes them last. Those three words, in that order, are still how I “shut down” every day.

The daily carry piece is inspected, wiped, checked for ready, and put where it might be needed.
Truck is cleaned of major debris and mileage checked for upcoming maintenance (fluids checked windshield cleaned at every fill up)
Boots wiped and cleaned up for the next day, leaving them dirty just wears them out faster
Then it’s time for a work out, study, and libations

[P.D.]

The message the Gerneral was trying to send, "Shined shoes save lives", was poorly put and easily misinterpreted. It's not about spit and polish. It's about "ATD" -- "Attention To Detail". Paying attention to the details of weapon maintenance and readiness, situational observation and awareness, proper planning, etc. is what it's about.

[Gabriel Suarez]

I agree with the sentiment. But just like the bastardized and incoherent "Slow Is Fast" (its not...slow is just slow), the "Shined Shoes Save Lives" loses meaning as everything we have taught will one day lose meaning too. Humans have shitty memories it seems...and all lessons will need to be relearned

[P.D.]

I agree with the sentiment. But just like the bastardized and incoherent "Slow Is Fast" (its not...slow is just slow), the "Shined Shoes Save Lives" loses meaning as everything we have taught will one day lose meaning too. Humans have shitty memories it seems...and all lessons will need to be relearned

True.

[barnetmill]

I agree with the sentiment. But just like the bastardized and incoherent "Slow Is Fast" (its not...slow is just slow), the "Shined Shoes Save Lives" loses meaning as everything we have taught will one day lose meaning too. Humans have shitty memories it seems...and all lessons will need to be relearned


I will have to search and see if there are any threads here that discuss this concept. ["Slow Is Fast" (its not...slow is just slow),]

I do not know if Jordan actually said: 'in a gunfight take your time, but do it fast. '

Years ago (mid 70's) I did watch him put on a demonstration and he was very fast, but he did not looked rushed because his draw was so smooth. It is a big topic and one that I will look into.

[Chaos]

Slow is slow...smooth is fast.

[Redneck Zen]

I will have to search and see if there are any threads here that discuss this concept. ["Slow Is Fast" (its not...slow is just slow),]

I do not know if Jordan actually said: 'in a gunfight take your time, but do it fast. '

Years ago (mid 70's) I did watch him put on a demonstration and he was very fast, but he did not looked rushed because his draw was so smooth. It is a big topic and one that I will look into.

Wyatt Earp is the earliest one I've read who said something along those lines. I believe Bat Masterson also espoused similar philosophies. Neither gunfighter prized speed over accuracy. Note that they both outlived their contemporaries.

[patriot3386]

I first heard “slow is smooth, smooth is fast” in college while doing some “extra” training with a group of like-minded cadets. Our instructor was a good friend of mine who already had several combat deployments with the Marines, and who has gone on to a successful career with them in JSOC. At the time, I couldn’t articulate the nuances, but I intuitively took his meaning to be this: train slowly in order to achieve proper, smooth technique, then progressively increase speed/intensity using PROPER technique to achieve speed. We were learning basic CQB tactics via “tape room” drills.

The point I’ll make here is that it was a quick training phrase to help us focus on the learning process, and properly instructed can eventually lead to proficiency. I’ll add that like most things, a novice rarely grasps the full wisdom or truth of a thing at first.

Good old fashioned life experience and places like WT have helped me learn to articulate the nuance.


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[P.D.]

"... train slowly in order to achieve proper, smooth technique, then progressively increase speed/intensity using PROPER technique to achieve speed."

That is essentially the timeless military training technique of starting to do a skill slowly by the numbers, making corrections at each stage, then continuing by the numbers, increasing the tempo, and then finally without the numbers (slowly) and increasing the tempo until the skill becomes "automatic". Practice, practice, practice.

[Gabriel Suarez]

"... train slowly in order to achieve proper, smooth technique, then progressively increase speed/intensity using PROPER technique to achieve speed."

That is essentially the timeless military training technique of starting to do a skill slowly by the numbers, making corrections at each stage, then continuing by the numbers, increasing the tempo, and then finally without the numbers (slowly) and increasing the tempo until the skill becomes "automatic". Practice, practice, practice.

Lazy illiterate Americans can't understand that

[jtiii]

Crawl, Walk, Run, that was the concept

[P.D.]

Lazy illiterate Americans can't understand that

Hence the expression, 'reinventing the wheel', and doing it every 20 years or so.

[Greg Nichols]

I will have to search and see if there are any threads here that discuss this concept. ["Slow Is Fast" (its not...slow is just slow),]

I do not know if Jordan actually said: 'in a gunfight take your time, but do it fast. '

Years ago (mid 70's) I did watch him put on a demonstration and he was very fast, but he did not looked rushed because his draw was so smooth. It is a big topic and one that I will look into.

I wrote something a while back about it. I always took it to mean deliberate and not sloppy. Practice yields speed, perfect it, own it, then make it fast