James F. Amos Quotes

I have never met a woman … whom I would trust with combat leadership…. The Naval Academy is a horny woman’s dream.

When I joined the Marines, I went to Quantico for training. One of the first things I learned is that you can drop out of a run, a couple runs. You can fail the test or a couple tests in a row, and they'd give you a second try. But if you lied about anything, you were gone that afternoon. That's how important integrity is in the military.

Our profession is built on the bedrock of trust - the trust that must inherently exist among Soldiers, and between Soldiers and their leaders to accomplish their mission in the chaos of war. Recent incidents of sexual assault and sexual harassment demonstrate that we have violated that trust.

You talk all the time about being connected, being a unit, believing in each other. But if you have unnamed sources, people out there cutting you down, and then you find out it's the person calling the plays - that would be really hard to deal with, to look at him the same way.

The military is already sexually integrated.

Events such as the 1991 Tailhook debacle have been seized upon and used by feminists to attack the military culture and bring about major concessions.

We have a crisis in confidence because we have an absence of leadership.

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

America has the greatest military in the world, and it's up to our leaders to set the bar for what a 21st century military culture of innovation with transparent, collaborative leadership looks like.

I placed the Marines where the hardest work was to be accomplished, and I never once found my confidence in them misplaced.

The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them.

Your commander would never lie to you. That's the vice president's job.

Virtually everything I learned about leadership traits and core values, I learned in the Marine Corps. To this day, I keep a list of the traits in a little black book, 14 of them, including integrity, justice, bearing, enthusiasm, endurance - all indicators you aspire to when you're a leader.

We have women in the military, but they don't put us in the front lines. They don't know if we can fight, if we can kill. I think we can. All the general has to do is walk over to the women and say, 'You see the enemy over there? They say you look fat in those uniforms.'

When a general complains of the morale of his troops, the time has come to look at his own.

We should ask our commanders..." Elayne trailed off. "If there are any we trust not to be under Compulsion." "There's only one," Mat said grimly, meeting her eyes. "And he's telling you we are finished if we continue as we have. The earlier plan was a good enough one, but after what we lost today...Elayne, we're dead unless we choose one place to stand, gather together, and fight." One last toss of the dice.

Take me to the Brig. I want to see the "real Marines".

Victory was never in doubt. Its cost was...What was in doubt, in all our minds, was whether there would be any of us left to dedicate our cemetery at the end, or whether the last Marine would die knocking out the last Japanese gun and gunner.

Often times the best military leaders were soldiers.

Old breed? New breed? There's not a damn bit of difference so long as it's the Marine breed.

The late Rev. Peter Gomes at The Memorial Church at Harvard was a true mentor to me when I was in college. He instilled in me a commitment to service, saying that it's not enough to believe in service, or support those who serve - you ought to find a way yourself to serve. When I looked at different options after college, nobody inspired me more than the 18- and 19-year-olds who serve on the front lines of our nation's military. Serving with them in the Marines as we together served our country was the greatest honor of my life to date.

When other Generals make mistakes their armies are beaten; when I get into a hole, my men pull me out of it.

Following is one of the most underrated aspects of leadership.... I have seen many a good [military unit] underachieve, because someone...thought the commander was incompetent, and quietly worked to undermine his authority.

We must, therefore, be confident that the general measures we have adopted will produce the results we expect. most important in this connection is the trust which we must have in our lieutenants. consequently, it is important to choose men on whom we can rely and to put aside all other considerations. if we have made appropriate preparations, taking into account all possible misfortunes, so that we shall not be lost immediately if they occur, we must boldly advance into the shadows of uncertainty.