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Cover your sixes

Posted by Bob on May 10, 2007

In Reply to: Cover your sixes posted by Chiroptera on May 10, 2007

: Anyone ever hear of "cover your sixes"? I just heard this today and was trying to understand what it meant and it's derivative.

Fighter pilots use the metaphor of sitting on the middle of a clock face to indicate the relative location of other aircraft. In other words, an enemy could be at 12 o'clock (straight ahead), at 3 o'clock (perpendicular to your path, on the right), etc. Add "high" and "low" and you get three dimensions. A famous book and movie were titled "12 O'clock High" indicating the location ahead of, and above, the pilot. So, your Six is what's directly behind you, the most dangerous enemy location. Your backside/ass/arse. Cover your six means to protect yourself.

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