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thedrifter
09-06-07, 07:30 AM
Marines Teach Leaders To Combat 'Ugliness' Of War

POSTED: 12:32 pm PDT September 5, 2007

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- The Marine Corps is teaching its junior leaders to spot combat stress before it explodes into post-traumatic stress disorder or causes troops to commit atrocities, it was reported Wednesday.

Some of the training took place Tuesday at Camp Pendleton through the Corporals Course, which focuses on the lowest rung of leadership, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Corporals are important because they handle much of the day-to-day management of a squad. In that strategic niche,
they often must make critical assessments on the battlefield.

To teach his class Tuesday, Cmdr. Paul Hammer emphasized the significance of such decision-making in Iraq. Hammer is the psychologist for the 1st Marine Division and a veteran of the second battle of Fallujah, the Union-Tribune reported.

"The goal is to inflict more combat stress on the enemy than it inflicts upon us," Hammer told a handful of combat veterans, the newspaper reported.

Hammer said the Marine Corps tries to fully prepare its troops for war, but some things just cannot be replicated, including the trauma of seeing people being maimed or killed, according to the Union-Tribune.

After some students shared stories of anguish experienced in combat, Hammer talked about some of the cases he confronted in Iraq, including one about a captain whose fear kept him in the rear while his men took on dangerous missions, the newspaper reported.

"You are going to experience some intense emotions in combat. A true leader is one who can truly tolerate the truth of war, and the truth is ugly," Hammer said, according to the newspaper.

"What we want is for you to bend," he added, "but everyone has a point at which they will break."

Ellie