Corporals are important because they handle much of the day-to-day management of a squad. In that strategic niche, they often must make critical assessments on the battlefield.
To teach his class, Navy Cmdr. Paul Hammer emphasized the significance of such decision-making in Iraq. Hammer is the psychologist for the 1st Marine Division and a veteran of the second battle of Fallujah.
He tried to draw his audience of 70 corporals into a conversation about mental illness and its consequences. At first, many of those young Marines were reluctant to join the discussion.
So Hammer challenged the students to consider combat stress in a novel way: as a tactic employed by both U.S. troops and insurgents that must be recognized before it can be managed.
"The goal is to inflict more combat stress on the enemy than it inflicts upon us," Hammer said as a handful of combat veterans in the room nod their heads.
The Marine Corps tries to fully prepare its troops for war, Hammer said, but some things just cannot be replicated, including the trauma of seeing people being maimed or killed.
"You are going to experience some intense emotions in combat. A true leader is one who can truly tolerate the truth of war, and the truth is ugly," he said.
"What we want is for you to bend," Hammer added, "but everyone has a point at which they will break."
Leadership in combat requires overcoming personal fear to accomplish the overall mission, he explained.
The instructor's candor, or maybe the sweltering heat, loosened up the room.
One corporal said he has witnessed Marines break down the first time they get shot at. Another student spoke of the anguish of having his buddies die during Fallujah combat in late 2004. Still another shared his frustrations about not being able to remove emotionally strained Marines out of action because their units were overstretched.
Hammer then talked about some cases he confronted in Iraq: the captain whose fear kept him in the rear while his men took on dangerous missions.
Or the gunnery sergeant who became wracked with guilt after his men killed an entire Iraqi family, save a 3-year-old, because it failed to stop at a checkpoint.
Or the corporal who watched his buddy burn to death in a roadside bomb attack and who turned so angry that his commanders feared he might attack Iraqi civilians without provocation.
"He was feeling like he wanted to kill every Iraqi he could see," Hammer said.
The teacher asked if anyone knew someone like that corporal. Hands rose slowly throughout the room.
"I know this is depressing stuff," Hammer said, "but maybe we can learn from it."
Late this year or in early 2008, Cpl. Edward Endres will deploy to Iraq for the first time. His unit will include 20 new Marines.
"This class creates an awareness of what to look for," said Endres, 22, of Albany, N.Y. "I'll be able to recognize the symptoms and take care of my guys."
Cpl. Tyler Hill, a combat veteran, said he finally has a name for what he's already witnessed in Iraq.
"It's brought a lot of things to light," said Hill, 21, of Boise, Idaho. "Looking back, there was a lot of isolation and survivor's guilt. At least now I know the warning signs."
