What is it Like to be Shot at/put Under Fire During Combat?

In the beginning, many soldiers find it exciting. You suddenly hear some zipping sounds over your head and think, “Oh, those are bullets!” You ask a more experienced comrade (“Are they shooting at us?”) and after he nods, you suddenly have a stupid smile on your face and think to yourself, “We are getting shot at! How cool is that!”

In today's conflicts, many soldiers won’t experience anything more serious than this. A single mortar grenade that misses their position, an RPG that is fired from very far away at their convoy (completely missing its target), or some sporadic inaccurate small arms fire. Their artillery or Air Force quickly gets rid of the enemy threat. They come home with some good stories and think that war is cool.

During the Kosovo War waiting for an enemy attack. (Photo: Visar Kryeziu, AP)

The problems only start when the enemy fire gets more accurate. After a few days in combat, you’ll be used to all that sporadic and badly aimed enemy fire that was once so exciting and completely ignore it. A friend of mine who was an officer in the Australian SAS called it the handgun rule: everything that happens out of the range of a handgun is not your problem.

When the bullets come closer, you learn to hate the sound they make. Even if they don't hurt you, they make you cringe. It’s not funny or exciting anymore and that stupid smile has long disappeared from your face. It’s a nasty feeling that you'll never get used to.

After you got wounded for the first time, things get much worse. You start fearing the cracking sound of the enemy’s small weapons fire. While during your first weeks of combat, you didn’t really care that much about what your squad was doing and what orders you were receiving, you now start taking an active interest in the way your unit operates: “Why do we move this way, there's no freaking cover on that ridge?” You have become very very careful.

If you made it home alive, your stories won't be exciting or adventurous. War isn't cool at all.

Reference sources: Quora