[taxcontrol]

Most people are not trained to deal with the stresses of combat. In fact, I would postulate that as much as 1/3rd of the trained INFANTRY do not perform their duties properly the first time they are in combat.

Many studies have been conducted on the actions of trained individuals and their responses to combat conditions. In the Civil war, soldiers would load their weapons, point it at the enemy, believe they fired, and then start reloading.... but never having taken a shot. Often ending up with a very dangerous situation of having 5 or 6 loads crammed down their barrels. In Vietnam, soldiers would often not even attempt to fire at the enemy, simply firing into the air.

The point is, if TRAINED soldiers react this way the first time they are in combat, can we honestly expect support personnel to behave like seasoned front line troops?

Granted, she did not deserve a medal and kudos for her for being honest about her actions.... but a trial, no that is not an appropriate response.

[RandallFlagg]

I forgot who it was who said it...
"Something about military combat. If you're good, you can only get better."

[ikka]

Even in WWII it is estimated that as much as 50% of our troops did not fire their weapons during combat.

[Zhang Fei]

Most people are not trained to deal with the stresses of combat. In fact, I would postulate that as much as 1/3rd of the trained INFANTRY do not perform their duties properly the first time they are in combat. Many studies have been conducted on the actions of trained individuals and their responses to combat conditions. In the Civil war, soldiers would load their weapons, point it at the enemy, believe they fired, and then start reloading.... but never having taken a shot. Often ending up with a very dangerous situation of having 5 or 6 loads crammed down their barrels. In Vietnam, soldiers would often not even attempt to fire at the enemy, simply firing into the air. The point is, if TRAINED soldiers react this way the first time they are in combat, can we honestly expect support personnel to behave like seasoned front line troops?

I'm afraid the results of this "study" have been conclusively discredited. Soldiers do fire their weapons - even the ones with minimal training. (There are some who go into a fetal position, but those are a tiny minority). If anything, they're too liberal about firing their weapons unaimed, which is why they keep on running out of ammo. However, even with the trained soldiers that we have, it is possible to fire thousands of rounds without hitting a single person. This is what happened in a recent blue-on-blue incident documented by Michael Fumento. Americans fired 300 rounds at Iraqi troops, who replied with 1700 rounds. Fortunately they all missed. The fact that she couldn't handle the stresses of combat well enough to even fire her weapon indicates that she isn't cut out for the army - most soldiers will fire back even if they don't hit anything.

[ansel12]

When I read the Army report and watched a long interview with her, it seems she may have been responsible for the deaths of the Humvee occupants.

While the two males they picked up instantly grabbed the SAW and got it going, she says she continued screaming and distracting her NCO passenger until the female driver crashed the vehicle and they were all killed, except for Jessica.

[Americanexpat]

Having served 3 tours in Vietnam, two as an infantryman, the complaint from the chain of command was normally that we were burning up too much ammo. I never had a problem firing my weapon. The only times I did see guys raising their weapons without aiming was when we were pinned down and raising your head could result in a very bad day. They just wanted to send some fire back to keep the enemy off of them until the enemy could be flanked or taken out with indirect fire.

[Reagan 76]

Your point is why the "every man and infantryman" philosophy is being stressed. It is tough to do that with a volunteer army though. We just don't have the demographics. The young men are not joining.