There have been studies of killing during a war, can't think of the name of these off hand, but I'm sure google will be your friend, I seem to remember reading this on the BBC news site about two years ago. These have shown that in a war the actual killing is done by around 3-5% of combat troops.Quote
kath
Some people might actually like dispassionate killing of other humans- a sort of 'natural born killer'- but this would be very rare.
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mjr40Quote
rajendran
My MOS yielded nearly 30 hours of legitmate undergraduate credit for a bachelor's degree for general education and major specific credit.
What was your Military Operating Specialty? What university did you attend while you were in the military?
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zeuszor
In civilian-speak, I was discharged and sent home from Iraq ahead of my unit due to my "personality disorder". (and I was a medic; we're typically smarter) They (my COC) had a guy on their hands (me)
who refused to totally give away his critical-thinking skills and was beyond giving a f**k about their reward/punishment games.
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zaflon
Are you a pacifist, or would you kill to defend yourself?
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zeuszor
In fact, a lot of spiritually abusive churches thrive near militarty bases (NTCC and HOP are two examples) because of that same dynamic: value placed upon, and rewards for, conformity, uniformity, and unquestioned obedience to an authoritarian leader.
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zeuszor
One of my drill sergeants back in AIT even admitted it to us; he said to my platoon one day that if recruiters told kids the truth about what they were about to get into, nobody's sign up, so as a practical matter, they HAVE to lie in order to make quota.
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rajendranQuote
mjr40What university did you attend while you were in the military?Quote
rajendran
My MOS yielded nearly 30 hours of legitmate undergraduate credit for a bachelor's degree for general education and major specific credit.
I attended a state school in Illinois.
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zaflon
These studies also show a significant number or combat troops actively avoid killing, by helping medics, moving ammo, or even shooting to miss the target etc. The figures seem to be constant through a number of conflicts from the second World War to the First Gulf War.