Marshall calls the **General Orders for Sentries** "perhaps the finest operations document of all time." It's a numbered list of 11 orders that codify the core duties of an American armed forces sentry. The document is remarkable because it **respects human nature** — it accounts for how people actually behave under pressure rather than issuing impossible commandments. **The 11 Orders**: 1. Take charge of this post and all government property in view. 2. Walk post in a military manner, always alert, observing everything within sight or hearing. 3. Report all violations of orders. 4. Repeat all calls from more distant posts. 5. Quit post only when properly relieved. 6. Receive, obey, and pass on all orders from proper authority. 7. Talk to no one except in line of duty. 8. Give the alarm in case of fire or disorder. 9. Call the Corporal of the Guard for cases not covered by instructions. 10. Salute all officers and colors not cased. 11. Be especially watchful at night; challenge all persons on or near post. **The brilliance of Order #8**: The expanded version acknowledges that fire might be a deliberate distraction. If you say "never fight the fire," the order will sometimes be disobeyed. By stating that fighting fire *might* be acceptable but is far less important than sentry duties, it hews close to human nature and gets obeyed more consistently. This nuance would have prevented the destruction of Hasdrubal's and Syphax's forces — sentries abandoned their posts to fight fires that turned out to be Roman diversions.