Originally Posted by NP8901

Training + Discipline + Leadership.

I'll take your word for it.

Thank you, NOMERCY Sir for your post. I am honored to answer.

I was a lieutenant in the Antiaircraft Artillery of the Italian Army. I never had the privilege of combat but it was very clear for me that a soldier is never a murderer: if a soldier kills another soldier, it's because that's what his duty demands of him.

Being a soldier doesn't mean to be a "9-to-5-Employee" (as many of my friends who joined the military forces think).

So, the first thing a soldier needs to be a true soldier is to consider himself part of an Army... No soldier wins alone or for himself!!
Then, you need a great "spiritual" motivation: you need to believe in your Country, in your Comrades, in your Duty (that means discipline, training, etc.).
And to carry out your duty, you need respect: for yourself and for everyone who is on your side... and even for your enemy: he is a soldier, like you.
A true soldier is never a "monster" who is overconfident in his firepower.
He's a man: it's up to himself to become a Man or to remain a man.

Thank you, again
Alessandro

Originally Posted by alessandro.pirisinu

I was a lieutenant in the Antiaircraft Artillery of the Italian Army. I never had the privilege of combat but it was very clear for me that a soldier is never a murderer: if a soldier kills another soldier, it's because that's what his duty demands of him.

Unless you shoot a foe who had clearly indicated that he has surrendered.

Dear NP8901 Sir,
how a true soldier can shoot a foe who had clearly indicated that he has surrendered?

Originally Posted by alessandro.pirisinu

Dear NP8901 Sir,
how a true soldier can shoot a foe who had clearly indicated that he has surrendered?

Well mate! it's a jungle out there.

Morale is good. But in war it goes out the window fast.

Dear NP8901 Sir,

the post is about "What makes a soldier a soldier".
A soldier, every soldier has a code of honor... which doesn't include shooting unarmed men, surrendered troopers and go on.

Yes, I know it's a jungle... but it's terribly dangerous to say: on one hand there's the "theory", on the other there's the "practice"... in fact, I'm sure no one of your superiors or the people who trained you as a soldier has ever say "Matey, it's a jungle, out there" (at least, on the record).
Regretfully, in today's wars there are many who think "It's a jungle... so I can do whatever I want, until I have a gun in my hand".
Those are called war crimes (committed by soldiers without honor...), even if there's not a court martial to judge on them... I wouldn't need such a burden on my conscience, if I were a soldier.

I can say: it takes a man to be a soldier and not it takes a soldier to be a man.

Respectfully
Alex

To shoot an unarmed man in the back is the snipers duty
Is he without honor?

We are today fighting under strict ROE. Ask der alte which ROE was in force for him. You can have your beliefs but don´t judge others for something you have not been a part of. If one of my Marines shot a POW then do not doubt that it would be investigated.

Dear 42RM Sir,

are you saying a sniper in the Royal Army shoots an unarmed man in the back?
I'm sure the rules of engagement (decided at N.A.T.O. level) strictly forbid the shooting of enemies who cannot be dangerous.
I have never been in a war, but I was an officer... so I know what I'm saying.

Most important: I don't judge no one!! Not you, not anybody!! We're talking about what it takes to be a soldier.
Yeah, I don't live on Mars: I know what wars are made of... everywhere there are wars conducted without honor: Ex- Yugo, for example, or Afghanistan. where the soldiers of my homeland (Sardinia) who serve in the Brigata Sassari are ambushed every day and bombed and fired...
So what? I don't even know what I could do, if I were there... maybe, I would overreact and fire rounds on every moving target, I don't know. I'm being totally honest with you.
I agree with Der Alte Sir: often (unfortunately) the morale goes fastly out of the windows of the soul.
I don't have solutions, less I'm not doing the morale to anyone... I'm just talking about my ideas and my experience.
And I have the utmost respect for those, like you 42RM Sir, who risk their own lives (and more...) to carry out their duty.

Respectfully
Alex

You're wrong. I think you're mixing things here
If you are a combatant you are a legal target. It has nothing to do with whether you are armed or unarmed or pose a physical threat or not.