War Is Easy

“Maybe the ultimate wound is the one that makes you miss the war you got it in.” -Sebastian JungerWar is easy. Ask any combat veteran and they'll tell you that despite the horrors and violence of war, they'd like to go back to war instead of being a civilian. All too often we've heard it said (we've even said it a few times) "Screw this send me back to Iraq/Afghanistan." or "War was easy, but this civilian crap is for the birds." It may be weird to hear for those not familiar with the unique experience of ground combat, but it's a sentiment shared by many who've come home.War is "easy". If we look at it from a certain perspective, war is easy. Each fighter has a simple goal. Make the enemy die, don't die yourself and don't let the folks around you die. Three relatively simple tasks. Very straightforward, very direct. Extremely reasonable.

War is easy, life in the civilian world is more obtuse. More...vague. We know for a fact that we are doing the right thing if we pull one of our friends from an intersection with bullets whizzing overhead and there our decisions matter. Here...nothing seems to be right or wrong, but rather, it just exists in some amoral grey zone where your actions neither matter nor do they contain any moral imperative. To men and women who've endured war and proven themselves honorable, there is a juxtaposition of these worlds that drives a desire for warriors to go back to war.War is easy because there is no ambiguity with respect to what is expected of you.

You perform or you don't.You win or you don't.You live or you die.There is no denying that both worlds come with their own unique challenges.War is easy, but, for those of you who sometimes feel this way, remember that war too was once unfamiliar and foreign to you. Give this life time and don't give up the ship, keep pushing. from one warrior to another, you've got this.