Preconceptions of Combat

Abstract

This chapter and those that follow examine the degree to which a soldier’s preconceptions of combat conform to its actuality. We will review the impact of different aspects of combat—for example, fatigue, deprivation, tactics, victory and defeat, and casualties—on the motivations and morale of the troops engaged. We will also examine combat stress and its effects as well as responses to combat stress. Finally, we will examine the overt behavior (expressed at its extremes by acts of courage and fear) of the participants in combat. In effect, therefore, we are as concerned here with mediating influences as with instigating motivations.