Roman Romanenko Quotes

The military is a very cool world to write about. I went down to Ft. Benning, Ga., for military training, and I learned a lot about soldiers and officers and why they joined up and what their life has been like.

I spent four years in the United States Army between 1985 and 1989, and I certainly learned how to survive out in the woods.

I joined the Marines, passed Special Forces selection, and became a young leader in the military.

Being a person of the armed forces is not easy. Performing it is also not easy. There is a sense of discipline and body language that you need to have throughout.

Most veterans detested training camp, but not me. I loved having a dorm room and a little fridge with snacks, and I looked forward to goofing around in the meetings.

I would have been a disastrous soldier.

I went to a military school between the ages of six and 12 and later into the air force. You learn discipline and strength of character.

Oddly, the military world is one of great sameness. There is an orderly quality to life on an army base, and even the children of the military are brought up with that sense of order and sameness.

My own early experiences in war led me to suspect the value of discipline, even in that sphere where it is so often regarded as the first essential for success.

The British soldier can stand up to anything except the British War Office.

But no one told me that when you're in the military, they own you.

Without discipline, there is no Marine Corps.

Well, I’ll be darned. When you put on a uniform there are certain inhibitions which you accept.

As a former Captain in the Army National Guard, I trained hundreds of soldiers to lead troops into combat.

I thought of myself as a soldier who was going to law school.

I graduated boot camp with meritorious promotion.

I spent 17 years in the Brazilian army.

In the Army, I learned how to use and respect my rifle.

I'm probably more comfortable inside a Marine Corps rifle company than I am anywhere in my life.

The function of combat is not merely to perpetrate violence, but to perpetrate violence on command, instantaneously and reflexively. The function of the service academies is to prepare men for leadership positions where they may someday exercise that command.

In matters of business deal only with the commander of the army, column, or party in which you serve. Never give orders to anyone at all, and reserve your directions or advice for the C.O., however great the temptation (for efficiency’s sake).

I don't run a democracy. I train troops to defend democracy.

It is useless to try so frequently and unsuccessfully, attempt upon attempt, to instruct the great mass of people in the art of war

You need a place that will be the holy grail of Army professionalism.

I feel that a period of service to the nation would be good for all of us, though I hope it will not be a purely military period. I have a great appreciation for the need for discipline and basic training in military methods, but above all, I believe we must develop the realization of every individual's responsibility in a democracy for his government. To me any period of training should stress this very clearly and should include service to the community. I believe both boys and girls should receive such training.