War Stories: Experience of Combat

If a fighter pilot, a Greek hoplite, and a Civil War soldier sat down with their favorite beverages of choice to share war stories, would they be able to connect and relate to each other’s experiences or would their differences be unbridgeable? In seeking to answer this question, the course begins by taking a theoretical dive into understandings of how men and women endure the paradoxical nature of combat: that for some it is equally characterized by horrors and highs. Dave Grossman’s On Killing offers insights into the experience of combat by arguing how hard it is to overcome man’s inclination not to kill. More specifically, he suggests that the closer one gets to an opponent, the harder it becomes to kill him. John Keegan’s The Face of Battle will build on Grossman’s perspective as we seek to determine how much the experience of combat has changed over time. From there, we will journey through time and space to gain insight into the varieties of combat experience. Is there a universal experience of combat or is context more important in shaping that experience? The hope is that this course will be useful to participants in understanding the broad experience and range of combat whether experienced in a firefight at Fallujah or in operating a drone from the relative comfort of Creech AFB.