Soldiers who’ve experienced war rarely wish it on others to take them where they have been or show them what they have seen.

Sebastian Junger is a journalist who joined Battle Company, 173rd Airborne Brigade, for five tours in East Afghanistan from 2007 to 08. His aim in War is to convey what it feels like to serve in an infantry platoon. He narrates experiences of monotony, lunatic excitement, heat, fleas, heavy loads, being shot at, adrenaline rushes, psychological and physical traumas, and experiencing overwhelming loss and misery alongside surprising feats of performance and bravery.

Junger discusses the importance of soldiers understanding their own psychological response to overwhelming challenges and traumas and the natural responses of fear and anxiety. He also discusses the importance of understanding an enemy force and its hilltop of human terrain, parallel to and just as important as physical terrain.

What I most appreciated about the book was Junger’s discussion of how combat experience fosters brotherhood and teamwork. He explains combat effectiveness is often mostly due to platoon teamwork: ‘Stripped to its essence, combat is a series of quick decisions and rather precise actions carried out in concert with ten or twelve others’ (p.170). Soldiers at their best are more willing to self-sacrifice for colleagues than to save themselves. They learn to and rely on looking out for one another. Soldiers may even say they ‘hate’ someone they work with and yet band together and respond collaboratively to overwhelming threats and survive.

This solidarity is something that soldiers highly appreciate and remember, but which they do not find back home. Junger says this is a large part of why soldiers re-enlist. Readers of Junger’s work may also be interested in the documentary video Restrepo produced by Junger with photographer Tim Hetherington.

War is essential reading for soldiers and veterans, as well as family and friends interested in understanding their world and the training they undergo, and professionals supporting their journeys.

Notes

Publisher details are: Sebastian Junger, War (London: Fourth Estate, 2011)