Of every one hundred men in battle, ten should not even be there. Eighty, are nothing but targets. Nine are the real fighters, we are lucky to have them since they make the battle. Ah, but the one—one is the Warrior—and he brings the others home.

—Heracletus, 500 BC (likely apocryphal)

War is both an act of violence and a clash of opposing wills. As such, it is a unique human endeavor. What makes war different and distinct from any other activity is the purposeful use of combat, destruction, and killing to compel an enemy to do our will. The use of force—and the passions violence inevitably engenders—are inherent in the very nature of war, shaping its character and conduct.

Human factors—both physiological and psychological—predominate in war. Combat is waged against a living, thinking enemy who often acts or reacts unexpectedly. Human fallibilities and emotions—generated and magnified by chaos, uncertainty, fatigue, danger, stress, and fear—create a unique environment, in which the best—and, often, the worst—in mankind come into play. Five thousand years of recorded history, reaching back to the Bible and the Iliad, validate these eternal truths about the nature of war and manifest its profound impact on both the warriors who wage it and the society that sends them to fight in its name.

This site is dedicated to exploring aspects of the human dimensions of combat.