What It Is Like to Go to War

What It Is Like to Go to War
Title	What It Is Like to Go to War

Contents

What It Is Like to Go to War Going to war encompasses personal, collective, tactical, and institutional dimensions experienced by individuals and units in conflicts such as the World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Gulf War. It is shaped by doctrines developed by figures like Carl von Clausewitz, Sun Tzu, and Antoine-Henri Jomini and implemented by organizations including the United States Armed Forces, the British Army, the Red Army, the French Army, and the People's Liberation Army. Experiences vary across theaters from the trenches of the Battle of the Somme and the Gallipoli Campaign to the jungles of Operation Rolling Thunder and the urban combat of the Battle of Stalingrad.

Background and Context

Context includes geopolitical crises such as the Treaty of Versailles, the Yalta Conference, the Munich Agreement, and the Treaty of Westphalia, which influence mobilization and alliance structures like NATO, the Warsaw Pact, the United Nations, and the European Union. Strategic considerations arise from events and doctrines exemplified by the Cold War, the War on Terror, the Iraq War, and the Afghan War (2001–2021), with policy set by leaders including Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. Logistics and law of armed conflict involve institutions such as the Geneva Conventions, the International Criminal Court, NATO Allied Command Operations, and the Department of Defense, while public opinion is mobilized through media outlets like the BBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and broadcasts similar to Radio Free Europe.

Preparation often references historical training regimes from the Prussian Army, Roman legions, and modern academies like the United States Military Academy, the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr. Units undergo exercises modeled on campaigns such as Operation Desert Storm, Operation Overlord, and Operation Market Garden, and tactics derived from theorists like John Boyd and institutions such as the Naval War College and the Army War College. Training environments mirror conditions seen in the Soviet–Afghan War, the Second Boer War, and exercises like REFORGER and RIMPAC, with specialization provided by units like the Rangers, Special Air Service, Navy SEALs, Spetsnaz, and Mossad-trained forces. Equipment familiarization includes weapons and platforms such as the M1 Abrams, the T-34, the AK-47, the M16 rifle, the F-16 Fighting Falcon, the Eurofighter Typhoon, the HIMARS, and logistical systems like Lend-Lease and Military Sealift Command.

Combat involves small-unit actions, combined arms operations, and strategic bombing practices seen in the Blitzkrieg, the Battle of Kursk, the Tet Offensive, and the Siege of Leningrad. Tactics draw on doctrines of AirLand Battle, maneuver warfare, and counterinsurgency practiced in Iraq, Afghanistan, and by units involved in the Malayan Emergency and the Algerian War. Engagements are shaped by leadership figures such as Erwin Rommel, Georgy Zhukov, Vo Nguyen Giap, Douglas MacArthur, Norman Schwarzkopf Jr., and Colin Powell, and executed with support from branches like the United States Air Force, the Royal Navy, the Israeli Defense Forces, and the People's Liberation Army Navy. Urban combat draws lessons from the Battle of Hue, the Siege of Sarajevo, the Battle of Mosul (2016–17), and the Battle of Fallujah (2004), while naval interdiction references engagements like the Battle of Midway and Battle of Trafalgar.

Psychological effects include trauma responses documented after the Battle of the Somme, Dunkirk evacuation, and the My Lai Massacre, and studied by researchers following Vietnam War veterans and participants in Operation Enduring Freedom. Mental health care frameworks reference organizations and concepts such as the Veterans Affairs, Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, the World Health Organization, and the diagnostic criteria influenced by historical debates after World War I and World War II. Emotional bonds form within units like the 101st Airborne Division, 1st Infantry Division (United States), Royal Marines, and Gurkhas, while survivor guilt and moral injury relate to incidents including the Bataan Death March, the Rape of Nanking, and controversies like Abu Ghraib, prompting responses from tribunals such as the Nuremberg Trials and the International Court of Justice.

Soldiers face conditions comparable to those in the Eastern Front (World War II), Pacific Theater of World War II, and the Arctic convoys, enduring cold, heat, disease, and supply shortages highlighted in campaigns like the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1979–1989). Medical evacuation and care rely on systems like Medevac, Combat Lifesaver, Red Cross hospitals, and innovations from figures such as Florence Nightingale and Jonas Salk applied in field medicine. Environmental hazards include minefields and ordnance cleared by units such as UN Mine Action Service teams, explosive ordnance disposal squads, and lessons from the Battle of Kursk and the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

Aftermath includes demobilization and policy set by initiatives like the GI Bill, Reconstruction Finance Corporation, Marshall Plan, and veteran services such as the Department of Veterans Affairs and Help for Heroes. Reintegration intersects with legal and political processes including the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa), the Paris Peace Accords, the Dayton Agreement, and post-conflict reconstruction efforts led by UNICEF, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund. Long-term consequences shape geopolitics through institutions like European Coal and Steel Community and events such as the Arab Spring, while memorialization appears in sites like the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Imperial War Museum, Auschwitz-Birkenau, and ceremonies tied to Remembrance Day and Veterans Day.

Category:War experiences