Military, trained killers or defenders?

Military, trained killers or defenders?
by Kathie Costos
Wounded Times Blog
February 23, 2013
The men and women leaving their homes and entering into the military are perplexing to some. Judging what I've read lately many people do not understand them at all.

Why would trained killers suffer afterwards? Isn't that what they wanted to do? Isn't that why they volunteered? Some of those questions come from complete morons and it is easy to just pass of what they think. It is when other people have the same simple understanding that shows how little the people of this country think about those who serve her.

Yes, they are trained to kill. They are trained to use the weapons of war. They are trained to follow orders sending them into hell. But that does not mean they are "trained killers" because if they were, then they would try to kill everyone. The goal, much like boxing, is to get the opponent to stop fighting and lay down. It is not to kill them. Law enforcement officials have the same goal. They need to stop the "criminals" they are up against and arrest them. They are trained to kill when necessary but they prefer to keep their weapons in the holster. In war, the opponents are trying to do the same thing. If they have to kill hundreds to get thousands to stop fighting, they would be happy to not have to kill anymore.

That is the part most miss. Had they been doing what they did in combat with only the goal of killing as many as possible, then they would be more like machines, unable to feel any of it.

In the news lately there is much debate about the "moral injury" inflicting thousands upon thousands of OEF and OIF veterans but while this manifestation appeared in generations of war fighters, it has only recently been the subject of news reports. Unfortunately, it has been the subject of researchers and scholars since the days when King David recorded his thoughts in Psalms.

Psalm 23
King James Version (KJV)
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

This is the prayer of war fighters and police officers. As with David, the enemy was defeated, yet lived "in the presence of my enemies" addressed that desire. "He restoreth my soul" after battle because the "righteous" intent caused the death of others. The "valley of the shadow of death" is what every war fighter faces.

They understand the first defender came in the form of a warrior angel. Archangel Michael is the defender of Heaven and necessary because even in Heaven, the angels were given freewill to do good and worship God or to do evil against God. Michael was not created to kill but to defend.

The men and women in the military are defenders. They are protectors. That is their motivation. No matter how much they train to use their weapons, they do not look forward to using them against an opponent chosen by the leaders of this country even though they are prepared to do whatever is necessary for the rest of this country.

During Vietnam, there were members of the opponent military forces in uniform but there were also civilians trying to kill our troops. This caused a conflict within them because while they had made peace with the fact they would have to kill the opponent military forces, they were not able to justify killing civilians to themselves.

The OEF and OIF war fighters are battling the same moral dilemma. They are prepared to fight opponents trained to defend their own country but civilians were not part of the deal especially when Afghans were not the target, but the members of al-Qaida were. Afghanistan did not have a regular Army but the intent was to capture or kill members of that group responsible for the attacks of September 11. Iraq had a military the coalition forces were sent to defeat but they also adapted to using bombs planted in the streets and suicide bombers. The moral dilemma stuck the war fighters harder because of what they were forced to do in order to defend the others they were with.

The military tried to address this and the San Francisco Gate published this.

THE SCIENCE OF CREATING KILLERS Human reluctance to take a life can be reversed through training in the method known as killology
Vicki Haddock
Insight Staff Writer August 13, 2006

"an occupational hazard to some -- particularly soldiers, police officers, spies and victims of savage crimes. All of them may face situations in which hesitating to kill is the surest way to get killed."

That's why military training camps, police academies and even some self-defense pros are constantly searching for more effective methods of suppressing the human revulsion to taking human life -- virtually rewiring the brain to react first in certain situations with an automatic response to kill.

But the military is the last to learn that when they try to rewire the minds of the war fighters, they end up with a human with twisted wires they cannot untwist back home and in the end, the real nature of the war fighter lives on to awaken to what he had done. He believes since he did not allow himself to feel when he pulled the trigger, he had turned into an "evil" person.

Psychologists who advised the military and law enforcement agencies began to push for changes that would revolutionize training to improve kill rates. Their methods -- familiar to those who operate boot camps, police academies and aggressive-response self-defense courses -- are a distasteful mystery to most in the outside world. But they work.

The Pentagon improved firing rates. Research suggests that 55 percent of U.S. soldiers fired on the enemy in the Korean War. By Vietnam that rate had climbed to more than 90 percent. Police studies document similar changes in recent decades.

One of the key changes was to get rid of the old firing ranges, where shooters took target practice in an open field aiming at a bull's-eye. This failed miserably at preparing shooters for real-world confrontations.

They tried to change training into real conditions the recruits would face, in other words, make it all more real to them. Yet this did not awaken the trainers to the other side of this training that ended up exposing them to real traumas of war. When they refer to the fact many of the members in the military committing suicide had never been deployed, they pass off all of this as if it had nothing to do with the trauma inflicted on the trainees. Add in the simple fact less than half of the veterans needing help for PTSD seek it and that shows how few will admit to needing help during training when combat veterans cannot bring themselves to admit they need help.

So how do we fix this? The answer comes when they are understood, not manipulated. The basic desire to serve, in most cases, had been within them all along. It is the desire to defend, not to kill. It is the desire to defeat, not to destroy. When they are being conditioned to be "trained killers" the humanity and goodness within them is eroded but does not die. It resurfaces to battle what is perceived as evil within them. Want to save their lives, then save who they are inside and get them to see what their intent truly was. It was not evil and they are not evil especially when they feel so much emotional pain afterwards. Evil feels no pain but rejoices over what was lost. The very fact they grieve is testament to the strength of their soul.