not even Psy 101, I long ago decided that the ideal Soldier, Marine, Sailor or Airman -- anyone exposed to combat with a potential for blood to be seen -- is what I call a controlled sociopath. One who has strong sociopathic tendencies yet can control them to an extent in order to function moderately normally in society. This is the guy or gal who can scrape someone else's body parts off their face and keep going -- and not fall apart over it months or years later.

There have been a slew of studies, some using MRI and PET scans that show some people have an adverse reaction to violence and others can accept it with equanimity. We probably ought to screen for that in IET...

Lacking that we will continue to send people who have great difficulty coping with the trauma of combat to war and, given our increasing sensitization and softening as a society, garner more psychological problems in the future than we have done or than we now do. I think there's a cost effectiveness issue in there somewhere.

Not to mention a training, performance and capability issue or two...