The ounce or the pound?

There's a wise, old saying: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. In other words, by taking care of matters now--before they become problems--you avoid having to remedy major damage in the future. It's a common sense principle for daily living, whether it's locking your car doors, stretching before a jog or getting regular medical checkups.

The same principle lies at the heart of preventive maintenance. Taking small, necessary steps today to keep your gear in shape helps to avoid crippling failures tomorrow--not to mention the extra work needed to fix those failures. Today's simple PM actions add up, and the payoff comes down the road in equipment that works the way it should, when it should. It's like putting money in the bank for a rainy day.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Take that wise, old saying to heart. Practice it routinely. Replace a dirty air filter in your HMMWV. Test your commo batteries to make sure they have enough power. Lube the front and rear sights on your rifle. Inspect your body armor's ballistic panels for damage.

Perform an ounce of PM right now so you won't have to choke on a pound of cure later on.