Lee Child - Jack Reacher's Rules

>>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.”

Don’t do what the law says, do what’s right.

“You don’t start fights, but you sure as hell finish them, and you don’t lose them, either.”

Never forgive, never forget.

You are accountable only to your own conscience.

Do it once and do it right.

“I try to do the right things. I think the reasons don’t really matter. I like to see the right thing done.”

“With a better attitude he could have been Chief of Staff by now.”

“We investigate, we prepare, we execute. We find them, we take them down.”

Military Police

TRAINING

U.S. military policemen are trained to maintain order, investigate crimes, and offer security in combat zones.

Training takes place for nine weeks at Fort Leonard Wood’s Stem Village, an imitation town complete with houses, jail, a bank, and a theater. Recruits are taught skills including marksmanship, unarmed combat, investigation, VIP protection, evasive driving, surveillance, and first aid; and how to deal with sabotage, suicide, damage to private property, and dead bodies. They also study Miranda rights, military law, collecting evidence, search and apprehension, interrogation, and directing traffic.

It’s not about strength or violence, but all about technique—making the right moves and striking in the right places—to physically restrain a perpetrator.

NEVER OFF DUTY

HOW TO OPEN A LOCKED IRON GATE WITH A CHRYSLER

1. Open all the windows of the car to lessen the noise, so that the bang on impact doesn’t deafen you completely.

2. Hold up one arm in front of you to stop yourself from being knocked out by the air bag.

3. Position the car about fifteen feet from the gate.

4. Rev the engine to the maximum with your foot on the brake until the car is rocking and straining.

5. Suddenly release the brake and stamp on the accelerator; shoot forward and smash the gate.

6. Get the hell out of there before the cops turn up.

THE SCIENCE OF … THE PERFECT SHOT

The perfect bullet

…has to be a perfect little artifact. It’s got to be as good as any manufactured article has ever been. It has got to be cast better than any jewelry. It must be totally uniform in size and weight. Perfectly round, perfectly streamlined. It has to accept ferocious rotation from the rifling grooves inside the barrel. It has to spin and hiss through the air with absolutely no wobble, no bias.

+

The perfect barrel

…has to be tight and straight. No good at all if a previous shot has heated and altered the barrel shape. The barrel has to be a mass of perfect metal, heavy enough to remain inert. Heavy enough to kill the tiny vibrations of the bolt and the trigger and the firing pin.