I think you might be taking it a bit too literally. These manuals don't only contain information on obvious things like "if you kill someone, their family will be mad" -- though honestly there are some 18yos that could stand to have that information beaten into them. But the manuals, they contain official priorities. Priorities in war used to be something like "kill stuff; pacification and making friends is the problem of the second wave, the one that comes after occupation". As we keep fighting long engagements like this, the old lizard brain of the military is coming to understand that they *are* the second wave. Suddenly (as in, in the past decade or so), the USMil is realizing they need to train their soldiers for situations where there are not just Red (the enemey) and Blue (the allies), but Grey and Green and Purple and Grey Which Will Turn Red If You Kill A Purple and the like. The military changes slowly. The decision-makers, by the way it works, have 30+ years of experience of What Worked, and the system is geared toward conservatism. (They are working on this. It'll take another decade before they start implementing process change, because the process to change the process is itself slow.)
The other reality check I engage in is to realize that soldiers get about two hours of sleep per night, and are in a constant state of cortisol frenzy. Ever pulled two hour nights for a week in a row? Makes reiterating simple things like "don't shoot anyone you don't have to" seem like a good idea; the brain doesn't work as well. They're really *not* as stupid as everyone tries to make them out to be. Really. But damn, is it a hard job, and damn, is it easy to screw up, and *damn*. So having a manual that reinforces common sense is just, well, common sense.
I'm not saying don't say the things you're saying. Keep saying them, and loud, and maybe we won't be putting people in situations where, groggy and grumpy and in pain, they have to make the decision whether or not to shoot a six-year-old that is running to give them a suspicious-looking bundle. But there are a ton of mitigating circumstances for what the military does right now; and if you had joined up, you would be a voice shouting in the darkness...they don't take criticism from within very well, even from Generals.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-15 08:58 pm (UTC)The other reality check I engage in is to realize that soldiers get about two hours of sleep per night, and are in a constant state of cortisol frenzy. Ever pulled two hour nights for a week in a row? Makes reiterating simple things like "don't shoot anyone you don't have to" seem like a good idea; the brain doesn't work as well. They're really *not* as stupid as everyone tries to make them out to be. Really. But damn, is it a hard job, and damn, is it easy to screw up, and *damn*. So having a manual that reinforces common sense is just, well, common sense.
I'm not saying don't say the things you're saying. Keep saying them, and loud, and maybe we won't be putting people in situations where, groggy and grumpy and in pain, they have to make the decision whether or not to shoot a six-year-old that is running to give them a suspicious-looking bundle. But there are a ton of mitigating circumstances for what the military does right now; and if you had joined up, you would be a voice shouting in the darkness...they don't take criticism from within very well, even from Generals.