Mental Preparation for Combat

Heads up: This section discusses combat realities, fear, traumatic stress reactions, and combat trauma. Some readers may find the imagery difficult.

If you're already struggling with anxiety, anger, or trauma reactions, reach out to a chaplain, Mental Health Services, Military OneSource, or — in crisis — call or text 988 (Veterans Crisis Line: press 1).

Do you know how your body will react to a stressful situation? Do you understand why it's important to know what to expect in a situation like combat?

Mental preparation can help you understand what you may feel in combat, perform at your peak in a stressful situation, and exercise the self-control needed to be successful. Flexibility and resilience will be key. Make the decision to start your mental preparation today so you can be ready tomorrow.

This section covers combat reality, mental preparation for fighting, physical, spiritual, and mental fitness, combat stress reactions, and how to make fear work for you.

Overview

Objective: Identify basic facts about resiliency in a deployed environment.

Learning Outcomes

• Identify the realities of combat as the first step in preventing combat injuries.
• Recognize the most powerful weapon a warrior possesses is their mind when mentally preparing to fight.
• Recall how physical, spiritual, and mental fitness affect the ability to adapt and maintain composure.
• Recognize how physical, perceptual, and cognitive changes are associated with fear.
• Recall how focusing techniques make fear work for you through influencing actions and decisions.

Foundational Competencies

• Decision Making — Makes well-informed, effective, and timely decisions; uses sound judgment to integrate and weigh situational constraints, risks, and rewards.
• Flexibility — The ability to adapt to and work with a variety of situations, individuals, or groups effectively.
• Resilience — The process of negotiating, managing, and adapting to significant sources of stress or trauma.
• Self-Control — The ability to keep emotions under control and to restrain negative actions when under stress.

Summary

• Combat Reality
• Mental Preparation for Fighting
• Physical Fitness
• Spiritual Fitness
• Mental Fitness
• Combat Stress Reactions
• Making Fear Work For You

Combat Reality

The vast majority of movies you've seen about combat have prepared you for failure. They focus on the heroism of main characters and how glorious it is to be in combat. Movies usually gloss over any actions or reactions happening to the warrior during the heat of battle and focus instead on the successes of combat. If you look to become a "hero" or look forward to the "glory" of battle, you're going to be incredibly disappointed.

If you expect certain things based on the Hollywood version of combat, the reality may injure or kill you before you really have time to understand it.

If any of your relatives or friends served as warriors, most of them have not portrayed combat accurately either. Many chose not to talk about it. Other warriors may feel too ashamed or embarrassed to admit what they really experienced. Warriors who served in the past may not have understood many of the effects they faced during combat were perfectly normal. Courses like this one weren't offered to many of our warriors — meaning many were ill-prepared, may not have known what to expect, or lacked the tools to help them deal with combat experiences.

You have an advantage of knowing what to expect so you can prepare in advance.

If you're holding on to inaccurate views about combat being glorious, it's time to change your mindset. Combat is a toxic, corrosive, and destructive environment. It is not pretty or fun. It is seldom glorious. Combat is not sterile — it is loud and messy. It can be painful on so many levels. It hurts and kills.

Knowing the realities of combat is the first step in preventing combat injuries.

Think of fellow warriors that served before you:

• Do you think it's fun to live in fear and always be on the lookout for improvised explosive devices (IEDs) or for surprise enemy attacks?
• Do you think it's easy to kill another human being?
• Do you think it's easy to know who to trust?
• Do you think it's glorious not to be able to rest and sleep fully?

Think of the noise you may experience in the heat of combat (weapons firing, bombs detonating).

Think of what it would be like to shoot someone at close range or if your wingman gets shot next to you:

• You may get splattered with blood, body parts, or human tissue.
• You may have to use your hands to stop profuse bleeding.
• You may have to watch a fellow warrior die.

Think of what it would be like if you stepped on an IED:

• You may get thrown and knocked out.
• You may wake up to find yourself bleeding profusely and missing an arm or leg.

If any of these thoughts gross you out, think of how much worse it is in reality.

You must come to terms with your own fear that hurting or killing another human being may be necessary to ensure your own survival. For most warriors, this is a distasteful thought. As a warrior, it may become necessary to use deadly force to save your life, the lives of other warriors, or other people.

Know it. Accept it. Prepare for it now.

Mental Preparation for Fighting

No one can fully prepare to face the realities of combat — but there are strategies that help. The most powerful weapon a warrior possesses is their mind. The mind is the source of your warrior spirit. The power of your mind cannot be measured by a trainer. You know your level of resilience better than anyone else — and you may not even appreciate your full capacity. Your resilience may determine if you live or die in a combat situation.

Being prepared for combat is a matter of mind over body. No matter how much you train, no matter how proficient you become at defending yourself, your body will never perform any action until your brain tells it to do so. This means your mind must be ready to survive in battle.

A warrior understands the mind and body are not separate entities — they must possess physical, spiritual, and mental fitness to succeed in combat environments.

Combat — realistic training is the only method proven effective in preparing for battle.

The more you can imagine yourself doing something by walking through it in your mind, the faster you can learn that skill and the better able you'll be to predict what might or might not work well.

Part of mental preparation is also practicing problem-solving. On a regular basis, as you encounter problems, think about these five steps:

1. Define the problem first.
2. Set goals — what do you want to achieve?
3. Identify more than one (very important) possible solutions.
4. Compare solutions and select the best one.
5. Evaluate outcomes.

Using your head to solve problems increases your chance of life and mission success — and your leadership skills. Practice often. Start with simple problems so it'll come naturally when more difficult problems arise.

Physical Fitness

Physical preparation requires mental preparation. First, you must mentally decide that physical preparation is critical and commit to train your body for peak performance so you're ready at the moment of truth.

Warriors enter into physical battle with life and limb on the line. They need a strong foundation of aerobic and anaerobic fitness — they need combat fitness.

Combat fitness refers to training the body and its energy systems in preparation for the high-intensity, short-duration confrontations warriors often face. In addition to strength and endurance, a warrior must develop explosive speed and power in preparation for combative events.

Spiritual Fitness

You must decide now if you believe there are things worth risking your life for and dying to uphold. Will you lay your life down for honor, courage, pride, duty, and protecting those you love?

Consider that a warrior who is afraid to die for their principles is equally afraid to live for them. Have a firm understanding of your principles. If you know what you will die for, you also know what you will live for.

When values have been thought out ahead of time, it's a source of comfort to a warrior — and a valuable tool in combat.

Mental Fitness

Mental fitness is vital. In combat, for some individuals a "failure of the will" or lack of confidence can lead to failure or defeat. The adage "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog" speaks the truth.

Fear is human

Society often teaches us fear is unacceptable and "cowardly." This is a mistaken belief and causes confusion in times of duress. With proper training, the warrior can learn to control and focus their fear — giving them a tremendous edge over the untrained warrior who succumbs to the negative effects of fear.

The well-trained warrior feels the fear and works with it, using its powerful biochemical and emotional forces to their benefit.

Your emotions make you stronger, not weaker. Anger and fear — often two sides of the same coin — are among the most powerful motivators for survival. Don't deny anger and fear — try not to let them control you or your actions.

Expect to have emotional reactions — it's human. Allowing yourself to experience a wide range of emotions can go a long way to accepting them. Admit when you're afraid! This doesn't mean you cannot cope with the danger. Admitting it may actually allow you to think better, work through the danger methodically, and respond according to your training.

Avoid dwelling on the danger or chance of failure. If you're constantly preoccupied with feeling fear or facing danger, you cannot focus on success or winning. A warrior accepts they're afraid and begins to formulate a plan for combating the problem.

You don't have to suffer alone — confide in a wingman

Don't be ashamed or embarrassed about confiding in your wingman. Bottling up overwhelming emotion:

• Perpetuates unhealthy stress reactions in the body.
• Decreases your mental and physical performance.
• Prevents you from getting your needs met.
• Leaves you internally isolated and to suffer alone.

Sharing your fears, worries, and other feelings with a trusted confidante helps to:

• Calm overwhelming emotion.
• Soothe distress and anxiety.
• Provide comfort and encouragement.
• Bolster resiliency.
• Restore confidence and hope.

"A cord of three strands is not easily broken." We are stronger and more resilient when we are connected relationally to others — especially in difficult times.

Choose to feed a positive attitude

Choose to feed a positive attitude and starve a negative one. This means accepting that there's a certain element of fate involved in every combat action. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. The events of 11 September 2001 prove that life is not always fair.

A warrior accepts this fact, but does not act recklessly. They acknowledge that with a positive attitude and good training, they have the necessary tools to survive.

A warrior trains the mind so the body will follow

Warriors look at every situation as an opportunity to learn and perfect their skills.

Warriors practice "when/then" thinking — instead of saying "If it happens then I will take this action," the warrior says "When it happens then I will be ready."

Panic does not overtake the warrior's "when/then" response because warriors prepare. They condition mind and body to work as one and are ready to react to different situations.

A warrior needs total and complete mental focus on the tasks at hand to survive:

• Go over the situation in their mind.
• Anticipate danger.
• Establish contingency plans for movement.
• Identify cover or concealment.
• Call for backup.
• Be aware of potential escape routes.

A warrior expects the unexpected and trains to develop the ability and skills needed to deal with the unknown.

Training equipment, facilities, and courses are great tools, but many times they're not essential or must-haves. You can always train in your mind — and a warrior must be willing to commit personal time to train.

One way to train is to read the Air Force Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (AFTTP) 3-4, Airman's Manual, cover-to-cover. It's your guide to survival.

Combat Stress Reactions

Think about what combat trauma will feel like. There are many changes that occur in your body and brain during a combat situation that have physical, mental, and emotional effects. One of the changes is your body will feel fear.

Fear is the body's natural reaction to any real or perceived threat or danger. Fear places the body in a high state of arousal where natural chemicals are pumping through the bloodstream, providing you with the tools necessary to survive.

To be most beneficial, a warrior needs to experience these feelings and changes before entering a combat situation so they understand how to use them. Following this type of behavior greatly reduces the possibility of post-traumatic stress disorder or severe combat stress.

Three types of changes associated with fear

Physical Changes

These changes may happen during any traumatic event — accidents, robberies, fire, natural disasters, or combat.

Your pounding heart, rapid breathing, and muscle tension prepare the body for instant action — to fight and survive in combat or other situations. Other changes such as dry mouth and the urge to urinate are side effects of the chemicals surging through your body.

These same chemicals can make you insensitive to pain so you can continue fighting even when hurt. You may have heard stories about people who were hurt but were able to do miraculous feats — like lifting a car off an accident victim.

16 Physical Changes Associated with Fear

Perceptual Changes

The five perceptual changes to your senses sometimes alter the appearance of an event:

1. Tunnel Vision — loss of peripheral vision; field of vision may narrow to mere inches. You could lose depth perception so you cannot see the threat — or you may notice heightened visual clarity.
2. Hearing Distortions — diminished sound is the most common type. Can range from total hearing loss to muffled and distant sounds. May not be able to hear people shouting at you, or sounds may be elevated and louder than normal. A small number of warriors identified with more intensified sounds (happened more during the hours of darkness).
3. Time Distortion — events may seem in slow motion, faster than they occur, or both phenomena at the same time.
4. Disassociation — a strange sense of detachment as if the event is a dream. Hours after a fearful event, you might have trouble accepting that it happened at all. Can include feeling out of control of your body and/or thoughts.
5. Temporary Paralysis — temporarily unable to move as your body is desperately trying to catch up to the sudden awareness that you're in danger and must do something right then.

Cognitive Changes Associated with Fear

These four changes cause you to think and act differently than under normal circumstances:

1. Automatic Behavior — you give little or no thought to your behavior as you instinctively react. Repetition and training are important as they allow actions to become automatic even when you can't think.
2. Memory Gaps — it's normal when involved in a traumatic event not to remember parts of what happened and parts of what you did.
3. Intrusive Thoughts — sometimes you'll have thoughts that are not immediately relevant to the current situation. You may think of your family or a past event that reminds you of the present one.
4. Memory Distortion — may cause you to think you saw, heard, or experienced events during a situation, and you find out later that the situation happened very differently or never happened at all.

Making Fear Work For You

The first step in surviving an incident is to know the physical, perceptual, and cognitive changes associated with the body's biochemistry and the fear it produces. Once you know them, you can decrease or stop the fear, confusion, and distraction they cause. You can learn to control them and turn them into assets in your role as a warrior.

Focusing Techniques

These techniques allow you to focus your energy on the immediate threat as well as survive in battle.

Sleep

You must get plenty of sleep to be on top of your game. Most people need a minimum of 8 hours per 24-hour period, but even a 30-minute "catnap" can help you stay focused if you make the sleep area as dark as possible. Use clothing to cover your eyes so you can nap during daylight hours.

Fit to Fight

A strong, healthy body generally means a strong, healthy outlook. This may work in your favor during battle and help you recover from the physical and emotional stress that may follow combat. Being physically fit can also enhance performance — for instance, it can help if you have to work in protective gear, which can add 40 or more pounds to your load.

Training

People are much more likely to feel high levels of fear when they're unprepared. Readiness training exercises offer the opportunity to realistically prepare you for the unexpected. Train your mind and body so you can save your own life one day.

Breathing

Warriors need to learn to control their heart rate during traumatic events. Research indicates that a heart rate from 115 to 145 beats per minute (BPM) is ideal for combat warriors. A heart rate above 145 BPM will lessen your ability to fly, fight, and win.

Imagine a basketball player who must shoot a free throw to win a game — they lower their heart rate and control their tension by taking deep, slow breaths and rolling their shoulders.

Tactical Breathing

Practice tactical breathing on your own as often as possible. Steps:

1. Take in deep belly breaths and slowly exhale.
2. Breathe in deeply through your nose for a count of four.
3. Hold that breath for a count of four.
4. Slowly exhale through your lips for a count of four.

You'll have to practice this technique to find out how many deep breaths is enough for you in different situations. This is a proven way to calm down so you can take control of your fear.

Breathe deeply whenever you feel your heart racing — when in combat, an accident, or simply taking a test. Use tactical breathing during combat to bring focus off your fear and into your practiced action.

Benefits of tactical breathing

1. Reduced muscle tension — better physical and mental performance.
2. A relaxed body and mind — promotes more flexible thinking and better decision-making.
3. Improved concentration.
4. Improved pain management.

Get help when you need it

Seek out psychological consultation, stress management training, or mental health treatment with behavioral health experts at:

• Local Mental Health Clinic
• Military & Family Life Counselling Services (MFLC)
• Military OneSource
• Chaplain

…to enhance your capacity to effectively cope with combat stress reactions.

Summary

You may never see actual combat — however, deployed locations are in combat zones. That's why mental preparation is so important.

Going back to the Comprehensive Airman Fitness (CAF) model, you've learned the importance of physical, mental, spiritual, and social fitness. Those pillars are needed in your preparation as well. Understanding more about stress and fear — and controlling them — will make you a better Airman, in combat and in life.