Sheepdog Tip of the Day, After Combat tip 71
We have always conducted critical incident debriefings. We did them every night around the campfire, and the "Old Sarge" always led them. There was always an old sarge, an old captain, or an old chief who was the survivor of past battles. We knew that if we were going to be survivors, if we were going to be there for our village or our nation in the years to come, then we had to be like him. Old Sarge modeled survivor behavior, and Old Sarge was calm. Across untold thousands of years, we learned that the man who became weepy or angry when he talked about his combat experience would not be there for his village next year. Unless he was able to get his emotions under control. Other than in funerals, warriors have always been embarrassed to weep in front of their brothers, and they were embarrassed to see a brother weep because it showed a character flaw, a true weakness which meant that he might fail his comrades in the future. If he was not able to get his emotions under control. The laconic Spartans modeled this behavior. The inscrutable samurai epitomized this code. The quiet plainsman, woodsman and cowboy who were products of the American Civil War, the Indian wars and the harsh frontier, symbolized this ethic. And the sang-froid that marked the height of the French Empire; or the ethic of British imperturbability, the "stiff upper lip" that sustained the British Empire; was more than just an affectation: it was a vital survival skill. The stoic Romans exemplified this ethos, but today, almost 2,000 years later, they have evolved into the wonderful, colorful, flamboyant, emotional and militarily incompetent Italians.
Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, On Combat
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Additional Resources
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