I've been reading military history lately

[Nuclear Unicorn]

Kind of penance for having read the entire "Twilight" series, I guess.

Hubby had all these magazines left over from his deployment. I read one. Then I read another. One small stack of magazines later I can say it wasn't anything like I expected.

I'm a pacifist and I still am. I think the War on Terror (or however its branded these days) is a bad strategic error. I think books that bridge our cultural divides will neutralize more "enemies" than bombs will but I was struck by how not-alien/human so many of history's professional warriors really were.

I guess I always had a sterotype, which is sad to admit since I've always said sterotypes are bad.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

1. "If it's natural to kill, how come men have to go into training to learn how?" Joan Baez

[FarCenter]

4. Apparently it is not natural to some

I've read that about 1/3 of raw replacements in a front line infantry unit will not fire aimed shots to kill enemy soldiers.

This is one of the things that accounts for the greater effectiveness of units that have been in combat.

[Cid_B]

6. No training needed...

It's just a matter of how well you want to do it and how much you value your own skin...

[Confusious]

13. You train so the other guy won't kill you. nt

[Posteritatis]

2. It's kind of mindboggling how much things have changed in 'just' the last few centuries like that

I'm reading Stephen Pinker's book on the decline of and shifting attitudes towards violence right now, and it does a good job of driving home how different attitudes can be towards war or violence in general among different groups, and how very much that can change over time.

Military history magazines are often kind of their own subworld in that regard; I don't read many of them (mainly because it bugs me that "history magazine" and "military history magazine" are basically the same these days), but they can be interesting for looking into stuff like that.

(Also wonder if your reading material there wasn't bridging a divide of its own? Every little bit helps in that regard...)

[Nuclear Unicorn]

3. When I met the man who would become my husband

I knew he was a soldier. He was still enlisted, in fact. To me he was this mysterious, foreign, strange creature with just a hint of danger about him.

In short, it was totally having a schoolgirl crush for my polar opposite.

Turns out he was less than dangerous. He was fun and an absolute teddy bear and his buddies were really good guys too. They're fiercly loyal to each other (a thing I envy some days on DU). Just knowing him has been an eye-opener but he doesn't talk army around me all that much.

I guess this is also helping me peer into his world just a bit. I know his military habits for "right time, right place, right uniform doing the right thing" mentality has paid him big dividends in his career. Its hard to wrap your head around that even though its obviously good. I'm seeing now why they do some of the things they do. It's scary but they make sense.

I admire him.

[dkf]

8. That's really sweet.

:)

[Nuclear Unicorn]

10. Thank-you n/t

[Cid_B]

5. Depends what you grew up on I think...

That's why I always shake my head at the idiots who think we are all PTSDed out of our gourds...

[Nuclear Unicorn]

7. My dad was blue-collar, former union, no military service

But he was always pro-military. I was a committed anti-war protester in college.

Hubby had a few rough patches after coming home but he seems so optomistic about life in general I think he's working past a lot of it fast. Of course, I do my part to keep him smiling. :P

[Cid_B]

9. It helps alot...

Nothing brings a service member down faster than a non supportive wife...

[Nuclear Unicorn]

11. I hope that statement is not autobiographical

I've seen you around a few times and you seem like a neat enough guy to make a young girl go, "He seems like a neat enough guy."

:hi:

[Cid_B]

12. HA....

I think some other regulars would disagree....

I'm doing fine. It's more that I've seen the fallout from my Soldiers when it went bad...