08-31-2015, 04:38 PM
Thanks for the info on the photo. Interesting that they decided not to use helmets, I wonder why? Same with body armor, if you have it why not use it? Yes it's a little heavy, but if you had trained with it prior to going to war the body adjusts to the weight and physically fit soldiers should not have many problems climbing a hill with body armor and helmets as Afghanistan shows us.
"Being absolutely filthy is seen as the standard." Except for WW1, a century ago, what army spent years living in trenches? Even then units rotated into and out of the front lines trenches fairly often when not actually fighting.
I don't agree that modern military operations don't allow time for rest and personal hygiene. Unless one is actually shooting or moving rest is always a top priority to any small unit leader and always questioned by the senior leadership. No matter how fit or disciplined bodies need rest to perform well. Sleep deprivation training can prepare you to notice the signs of a lack of sleep, but it does not train your body to actually need less sleep, nothing can, same with hydrating your body. You can not train your body to need much less water than it needs.
It's the same with hygiene, you make time for personal hygiene in the field or small cuts gets infected and you loose not just one man, but the two that have to carry him and his gear until someone comes and takes him away.
It's not easy to get the privates to relax enough to sleep in enemy country or keep their bodies as clean as their weapons, but that's why being a soldier is HARD and few are able to do it..."we few, we happy few, we band of brothers."
Then as now, it's all about being aware of how a lack of rest and poor hygiene can impact the effectiveness of the ordinary solder in the field. Multiply that by hundreds and thousands and you have armies that simply rot away while not doing too much fighting. In fact, it's about training the squad leaders and platoon leaders to realize that "sucking it up" is not always the best solution when there are better alternate courses of action available.
History is full of examples of military forces forgetting these simple principles and suffering accordingly.
I'm sure the Romans knew all this well as they were very good at analyzing what happened when they lost a battle, or war, and implementing steps to avoid a similar outcome.
"Being absolutely filthy is seen as the standard." Except for WW1, a century ago, what army spent years living in trenches? Even then units rotated into and out of the front lines trenches fairly often when not actually fighting.
I don't agree that modern military operations don't allow time for rest and personal hygiene. Unless one is actually shooting or moving rest is always a top priority to any small unit leader and always questioned by the senior leadership. No matter how fit or disciplined bodies need rest to perform well. Sleep deprivation training can prepare you to notice the signs of a lack of sleep, but it does not train your body to actually need less sleep, nothing can, same with hydrating your body. You can not train your body to need much less water than it needs.
It's the same with hygiene, you make time for personal hygiene in the field or small cuts gets infected and you loose not just one man, but the two that have to carry him and his gear until someone comes and takes him away.
It's not easy to get the privates to relax enough to sleep in enemy country or keep their bodies as clean as their weapons, but that's why being a soldier is HARD and few are able to do it..."we few, we happy few, we band of brothers."
Then as now, it's all about being aware of how a lack of rest and poor hygiene can impact the effectiveness of the ordinary solder in the field. Multiply that by hundreds and thousands and you have armies that simply rot away while not doing too much fighting. In fact, it's about training the squad leaders and platoon leaders to realize that "sucking it up" is not always the best solution when there are better alternate courses of action available.
History is full of examples of military forces forgetting these simple principles and suffering accordingly.
I'm sure the Romans knew all this well as they were very good at analyzing what happened when they lost a battle, or war, and implementing steps to avoid a similar outcome.
Joe Balmos
