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Can't speak for other MOSs, but at least for infantry, infantry are exposed to videos where people die during training - one video I remember seeing was from th
by Bahamut 12y ago
Can't speak for other MOSs, but at least for infantry, infantry are exposed to videos where people die during training - one video I remember seeing was from the point of view from an insurgent, and it showed his comrades & him launching an assault on some Marines, only to promptly run away from a hail of gunfire. The person whose perspective is seen dies quickly.
I suspect that most training in the US military show such content, in order to avoid sudden shock from experiencing the situation for the first time. The US military trains as close to real scenarios as it can, so that the same decision making happens during actual combat situations.
Contrary to what you might believe, the training often stresses to use sound judgment - there are many accidental casualties in war, sometimes due to miscommunication. One story that a Marine told me was that in Afghanistan, while he was on watch at a vehicle checkpoint, a truck was speeding towards his post - his battle buddy and him were signaling to the driver to slow down/stop. The driver did not stop - they were forced to try to incapacitate the vehicle, which ended up killing the driver. There were no explosives, but you cannot know which vehicle has any - this is part of the fog of war. Contrast that with two recent Navy Cross awards for two Marines who died in the same situation in Iraq, except the vehicle was a suicide machine meant to do significant damage to the base.
War is not black and white - in war, the only thing people care about is helping get their buddies home safely. When it comes down to it, almost every person made the choice to be ready to sacrifice if necessary to achieve this. It is at least an honest choice when contrasted with those who have no experience with such a world commenting without the proper perspective.