On Combat

[Beatmeclever]

On Combat, The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace, Lt. Col. Dave Grossman w/Loren W. Christensen, Warrior Science Publications, 2004

ISBN: 978-0-9649205-4-5

Has anyone else read this book; and if so, what kind of optional rules might be added to RECON to bring this reality into the game? I have some ideas, I'm just wondering if anyone else has seen this.

[GreenGhost]

I haven't read it, but I've used a rough House rules regarding "Shell Shock" loosly based off of Horror Factor. Seeing mutilated bodies, burn victims, etc. all have an affect on a person. It's what I use to bring a little realism into the game.

[Beatmeclever]

Yeah, that stuff is in here, but also the effects of the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) and Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) during combat. This book explains a lot of the effects I didn't understand and at one time thought made me a coward; things that made me work all the harder to be courageous (stuff that could have gotten me killed). Like the fact that when one is attacked, the body directs its energy resources for action. Digestion stops, salivation may stop, the bowels and bladder release (this happens in 75% of combat verterans, often as diarrhea), and adrenaline is released into the bloodstream. Afterwards, the body becomes exhausted and sleep is needed, but can be put off to avoid being caught by a well-timed counter-attack. (It reminded me of the first time understood the need for a "Combat Dump".)

The book talks about the effects of lack of sleep and how it contributes to PTSD. Caffeine as an aid and nicotine as a hinderance. Controlling one's heart rate and the effects on motor skills and visual acuity (and the effect on marksmanship) as the heart rate increases.

Sensory distortions, like auditory exclusion (guns go quiet) in 85% of soldiers, intensified sound (like tunnel vision only with hearing) in 16% of soldiers, tunnel vision ("like looking through a toilet paper tube") in 80% of soldiers, visual clarity (the ability to later describe even the smallest details of objects and events that were seen) in 72% of soldiers, slow motion time (just that time seems to move slower) in 65% if soldiers. Sensory exclusion (the loss of sensation, like feeling when you've been injured). Sensory overload (bright flashes, loud bangs, intense heat, etc. causes loss of consciousness). Loss of speech (speech is a fine-motor skill), temporary paralysis (freezing) in 7%, dissociation and intrusive distracting thoughts (feeling like one is "out-of-body" or thoughts of home in the middle of a firefight). And even with all of this, it talks about how the "Modern Paladin" (the soldier or police officer) comes out of combat alive thanks to his training, but how he doesn't talk about the physiological effects (like $hiting himself) even with his buddies (who just did the same thing).

Other chapters talk about memory loss and memory distortion, distance and awareness distortions, the response to killing and the "joy" of combat, the gift of aggression, and the price of combat (PTSD, Survivor's Syndrome, taking the blame, etc.).

I am really enjoying this read. They just didn't know most of this stuff 20-years ago, you know? It has helped me get up the strength to find a good therapist and begin EMDR. So, it is helping me with my own issues as well as giving me ideas for added combat complications in RECON (for both good guys and bad).

[GreenGhost]

Yeah, that stuff is in here, but also the effects of the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) and Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) during combat. This book explains a lot of the effects I didn't understand and at one time thought made me a coward; things that made me work all the harder to be courageous (stuff that could have gotten me killed). Like the fact that when one is attacked, the body directs its energy resources for action. Digestion stops, salivation may stop, the bowels and bladder release (this happens in 75% of combat verterans, often as diarrhea), and adrenaline is released into the bloodstream. Afterwards, the body becomes exhausted and sleep is needed, but can be put off to avoid being caught by a well-timed counter-attack. (It reminded me of the first time understood the need for a "Combat Dump".)

The book talks about the effects of lack of sleep and how it contributes to PTSD. Caffeine as an aid and nicotine as a hinderance. Controlling one's heart rate and the effects on motor skills and visual acuity (and the effect on marksmanship) as the heart rate increases.

Sensory distortions, like auditory exclusion (guns go quiet) in 85% of soldiers, intensified sound (like tunnel vision only with hearing) in 16% of soldiers, tunnel vision ("like looking through a toilet paper tube") in 80% of soldiers, visual clarity (the ability to later describe even the smallest details of objects and events that were seen) in 72% of soldiers, slow motion time (just that time seems to move slower) in 65% if soldiers. Sensory exclusion (the loss of sensation, like feeling when you've been injured). Sensory overload (bright flashes, loud bangs, intense heat, etc. causes loss of consciousness). Loss of speech (speech is a fine-motor skill), temporary paralysis (freezing) in 7%, dissociation and intrusive distracting thoughts (feeling like one is "out-of-body" or thoughts of home in the middle of a firefight). And even with all of this, it talks about how the "Modern Paladin" (the soldier or police officer) comes out of combat alive thanks to his training, but how he doesn't talk about the physiological effects (like $hiting himself) even with his buddies (who just did the same thing).

Other chapters talk about memory loss and memory distortion, distance and awareness distortions, the response to killing and the "joy" of combat, the gift of aggression, and the price of combat (PTSD, Survivor's Syndrome, taking the blame, etc.).

I am really enjoying this read. They just didn't know most of this stuff 20-years ago, you know? It has helped me get up the strength to find a good therapist and begin EMDR. So, it is helping me with my own issues as well as giving me ideas for added combat complications in RECON (for both good guys and bad).

I'm lucky to have never experienced the bowel or bladder release, but I have experienced most of the others with the auditory exclusion (although they didn't go all quiet, just muffled big time) and tunnel vision. The sleep thing is something that stuck. I still rarely sleep. I'll get about 2-3 hours a night during the week and on the weekend I get about 5 a night. LOL! I can do with not having to deal with that. What really ticks me off is when people say that PTSD doesn't exist.

I'll have to check out that book you're talking about.

[Rockwolf66]

I have the earlier book "On Killing." by the same author. It makes for interesting reading on the subject. I have friends who have killed people for many reasons. Most of them were done in war and with three of them the killings were arguably/literally murder. Everyone I know who has killed has reacted differently. One former Special Forces member I know even goes so far as to admit to enjoying killing terrorists. Another who spent time in San Quentin for killing another man with his bare hands is now the most peaceful person I know.

As for PTSD it does exist and it's something that hopefully I can at least get a couple friends some information to deal with said trauma.

The four books on violence that I recomend are:

On Killing(on the effects of killing others)
Into the Killzone(a study of police officers who were forced to kill)
Why they kill (a study of criminal behavior and why they become violent)
Meditations on Violence (Written by a martial artist and former corrections officer, talks about the differance between sparring in the Dojo and RL violence)