Combat

[lagrand]

For awhile now, the concept of combat has been on my mind and the psychological and physical (re)actions that subsequently follow. Many of us on the site have never experienced combat and I'm sure some may not, ever. If I can speak for the majority of us who sit home and go about our lives while brave men and woman continue to face war overseas, I would like to know, with all due respect and profound curiosity, what is combat like? What drives Marines to stare death in the eyes and what are the after-thoughts? If this post is deemed entirely inappropriate, please moderators, do not hesitate for an instant to delete this thread. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you who put your lives on the line every single day. You, Marines, are all heroes in my eyes, and that will never change. God bless you all.

Respectfully,

Jacob

[0231Marine]

For awhile now, the concept of combat has been on my mind and the psychological and physical (re)actions that subsequently follow. Many of us on the site have never experienced combat and I'm sure some may not, ever. If I can speak for the majority of us who sit home and go about our lives while brave men and woman continue to face war overseas, I would like to know, with all due respect and profound curiosity, what is combat like? What drives Marines to stare death in the eyes and what are the after-thoughts? If this post is deemed entirely inappropriate, please moderators, do not hesitate for an instant to delete this thread. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you who put your lives on the line every single day. You, Marines, are all heroes in my eyes, and that will never change. God bless you all.

Respectfully,

Jacob

Ok, so this is a touchy subject for obvious reasons and don't expect to get a lot of responses regarding your question. However, in the interest of enlightening you young (and some old) ones -

From what I've seen and done, combat is different for everyone that experiences it. I don't think any two people handle it the same way. When you're actually in combat, conducting operations or putting rounds down range, it's all reactionary. You go through so much training prior to entering a combat zone that when the **** hits the fan, you'll know what to do. Why do you think there are Marines (and SEALs and Soldiers) jumping on grenades to save fellow service members? They don't look at the grenade and think, "Gee, what should I do in this situation." It's all instinct because a split second is the difference between coming home with your unit, or in a wooden box. Following a deployment, it's not uncommon for people to internalize any issues they might have with what they've experienced while others are more open about it. Like I said, it's different for everyone. Often times, you don't think about being shot at or risking your life when you go into a hostile area, because by that point, it's already expected. Your senses are firing on all cylinders and things can seem to move in slow motion because of this. I hate to say the following but it's pretty true, atleast in my eyes...If you haven't actually experienced combat, getting shot at and actually returning fire, then you're not going to understand because there is nothing in life that I've found that even closely compares.

Hope this helped!

[amarine0311]

I completely agree with 0231Marine. This experience is differentt to each individual. This is not something that can be translated into words easily. Everybody looks after each other. When the action starts up, your training takes over. Not even the simulations the Marine Corps trains you with come close to the real thing.

[OB MSG]

I have not experienced combat, but I have to say that I applaud this young Poolee for the way he addressed this subject.

Keep up the good work and you will make a fine Marine.

And to all you Marine out there: Be as safe as you can, and good luck out there!

[davblay]

For awhile now, the concept of combat has been on my mind and the psychological and physical (re)actions that subsequently follow. Many of us on the site have never experienced combat and I'm sure some may not, ever. If I can speak for the majority of us who sit home and go about our lives while brave men and woman continue to face war overseas, I would like to know, with all due respect and profound curiosity, what is combat like? What drives Marines to stare death in the eyes and what are the after-thoughts? If this post is deemed entirely inappropriate, please moderators, do not hesitate for an instant to delete this thread. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you who put your lives on the line every single day. You, Marines, are all heroes in my eyes, and that will never change. God bless you all.

Respectfully,

Jacob

I think you use a lot of thought and forsight to word your question, thank you. I realize that this is something that you really would like to know before you have to go into war. But the truth is until you go there, there is no way that it can be explained to you my friend. When the action starts you either have it in you to react and remember your training, or you freeze up. You don't have time to recall what your SOI Sgt was trying to teach you, you have to have it in you to do what has to be done.

The old saying, "lick your wounds after the battle", holds true. You don't have time to think in a combat situation, only react! You see at the very beginning that this is real, not one of thse video games that have a reset button!

Learn all the Corps has to teach you, that improves your odds of survival!


Dave

[jinelson]

Jacob
Corporal Blaylocks post to your thread is correct and I agree with his appraisal a hundred percent. Dont worry about it now there are other more important things that you must accomplish first. But I would ask you to picture how you would feel being more scared than you ever have in your life 24/7 just for openers. Im sure thats not quite what your looking for in an answer but it is a glimpse.

Good Luck

Jim

[0231Marine]

I also wanted to add one more thing that is pretty common in my experiences. The human body, without even realizing it, conditions itself to combat situations. An example may be that during your first deployment, your base gets hit by mortars and you immediately freeze because you're not sure what's going on or what to do. You panic and then realize that you should probably seek cover. Well, after a while, all of this becomes second nature and if done frequently enough, when you hear impacts, you just react. Some people I've been around have taken so much incoming while in Iraq that they can actually here the mortars/rockets being fired and will say, "Better take cover." A good example of the bodies ability to adapt to adverse or hostile conditions while in combat.

[cw2533]

:flag:I was a Recon Marine carrying a radio in Viet Nam and a comm chief for a motor transport Bn in Viet Nam I found that each day is a different day and should be handled as such. The one common factor is that you will be a well trained Marine. Ooorah Or like we said back then Semper Fi Good Luck

[lagrand]

It is much appreciated from all of you who replied. You Marines never cease to astound us with the bravery you show under fire. I know many poolees and/or friends who's first reactions to encounters with Marines are "How many people did you kill?" or "Was combat cool?" or something along those lines. Not only is it disrespectful but it is also not their place to be asking such questions and I am glad to see my question was not taken as such and I am ever grateful for the answers you gave and the sacrifices you make. Hope to see you in the Fleet. God bless.

- Jacob