Most soldiers in current wars don't even enter combat.

ooga buga going out hunting bye

Well, "we." I am not one anymore

It's not the Vietnam era anymore. Most of our military personnel are drivers, or work from behind a desk, or do a wide variety of mechanical work. Most security people never see combat.

Still, few people have time to consider what they're doing as "killing"

thats why snipers drain more "life" compared to rando soldiers.
grunts can do a whole campaign by just blindly firing into a building or general area of an enemy. a sniper specifically has to isolate individuals and know full well that theyll be taking a life

The actual combat people are a small minority of the armed services. Special forces does killing, but most of the others probably never have to fire their gun. Unless they get unlucky.

They just shoot at the target that is shooting at them. That's all there is to it

That's true in the US-context, @Arthur Grayborn

Donesn't always apply.

I had a cousin serve in Afghanistan. His word for it was "boring."

In four years he never saw action, not even once. None of his unit were ever targeted. His only complaint was that sand got everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Apparently sand getting into every nook and cranny of the human body is a major problem in the Middle East.

so does "stormtrooper syndrome" actually exist

For instance, my country would have to have many men in combat if our hypothetical enemy would attack

like youve been trained for years but the moment you meet actual combat you just get the aim of a star wars storm trooper due to sheer stress

Because we don't have the firepower or the air superiority of the USA

@Arthur Grayborn my older brother served in syria and he was so bored he wanted to kill himself

Shellshock, "War Fatigue," PTSD, yeah.

Imagine forming close friendships with a bunch of people, and then watching half of them die in front of you while screaming in terrible agony.

Watch that video linked earlier, @Ayylmao

It kinda says it does

ok cant watch video links either

If you're a soldier who actually loses a bunch of close friends in combat, or you get in a particularly nasty fight with a gory, bloody aftermath, especially dead kids, that's going to fuck up most people.

Ok, just search Lindybeige in Youtube when you can

i know of based frog exterminator

@Bastard - To be fair, I prefer boring wars over exciting ones.

I'm sure he'd be in far worse shape if he watched half his friends die a horrible death.

Or if he had to look at the mangled bodies of children shot to hell. That fucks people up too.

war and how fast it goes depends on the people tbh

Good war is swift, exciting and brutal

@Ayylmao Since I was about to mention what is in the video, I'll reeeepost the link with a gap in front of .com and you do whatever you want with it.

https://www.youtube .com/watch?v=zViyZGmBhvs

That way it ends quickly

there's a social experiment that determined that people actually prefer physical discomfort over boredom

in europe people have been warring in a way that they can just quickly cede a whole nation because they know whether a war is unwinnable or not

but trauma is a different story

Boring one is the drawn out kind US finds themselves with asymmetrical warfare

in places like vietnman or middle east where their version of war spans milennia, there just isnt any end in sight

With horrible deathtolls

@Froststep - Not always. The worst wars are between two fairly evenly matched groups, both of them pissed off and out for blood. What usually ends up happening in such cases is a total bloodbath, because neither side can gain a decisive advantage and both of them are looking to inflict as much damage as possible in the hope that the other gives in.

Lopsided wars usually boil down to clean victories, without excessive bloodshed, or sustained insurgencies where the civilian population lives in a state of fear but open battles are rare.

if you can manage to quickly install a puppet government that actually does its job then youre fine

but if its slow and incompetent that just invites a whole new generation of rebels waiting for a power vacuum

i cant take this anime avatar guy talking about the horrors of warfare seriously