a mobilized year

I've always wondered about people's behavior. You know, why do people do what they do? Most of the time, people's behavior is understandable. Every once in a while, I observe something that while understandable is still interesting and intriguing to watch. That is the case for what I have come to refer to in my tour here as the Chatter.

Often times, when one experiences something new and incredible, there's a strong desire to tell other people about it. Yes, I know, we're very social creatures. But what I've witnessed (and personally experienced) here is somewhat different than what I've seen on the civilian side. Or, at least is expressed more intensely here--almost an uncontrollable feeling to communicate with fellow soldiers. Let me give a few examples.

One soldier in my company just got back from a mission and it was the first time that he had ever encountered AIF. The soldier is rather shy and not very talkative. But upon returning from this mission, he wouldn't shut up for two days (and I am not exaggerating). He would go on at length about the mission, the small arms fire and the mortar rounds that they took. But it didn't stop there. He would talk about other stuff as well and became much more aggressive in his conversation style. He returned back to his normal self though after a couple of days.

Another example. We had a soldier who got back from a mission at about 2300 one night. During the mission (which lasted about 9-10 days), one of the HMMWV's in front of his was slightly hit by an IED. The driver though lost control of the vehicle and flipped it as they were going about 30-40 mph. No serious injuries thankfully. My soldier witnessed the whole thing as it unfolded. This same soldier also took small arms fire on more than one occasion on this mission. The soldier was still on adrenalin upon his return (even though the events occurred several nights prior). I don't think he even went to bed that night he returned. He told everybody that he saw that night about his mission and what he experienced. This continued for a day or two afterwards. Again, nonstop talking.

What I've noticed that is common among soldiers who exhibit the Chatter is that it occurs most often when soldiers run into the enemy for the first time (or after one of the first few times). The soldier exhibits unusually high levels of exhilaration, excitement, and intensity. In talking to the soldiers, there's also a sense of relief that they made it through the event (or series of events) without serious harm.

Based on my experiences and what I've taken from discussions with other soldiers, my guess is that the Chatter is a combination of a coping mechanism, a soldier bonding mechanism, and an expression of relief following the years of training that the soldier had in preparation of the day he first met the enemy.

I'm sure my observations are not new. But, it's still interesting for me to witness nonetheless. It's also interesting to know that despite all the differences that we have as humans (or at least Americans), there are definitely common behavioral characteristics that almost all of us share. And, the Chatter seems to be one of them.