Copyright 2008 T. Sheil & A. Sheil All Rights Reserved
What is a warrior? That is pretty simple. A warrior is a person trained in
military skills for combat. In this day of re-enactors, we need to be more
specific. A warrior is trained for the very real combat of his time and place.
He is trained with the possibility that he may have to use these skills against
a very real enemy in lethal combat.
In today’s world. a warrior is a soldier, marine, airman or naval sailor.
Though re-enactors train in ancient combat skills, they know they are unlikely to face an enemy army any time soon. As late as the 20th century, the lesson was clear whenever a Medieval army met a modern one. In World War II, entire divisions of the Chinese army were armed and trained in the use of swords and spears. They were very good at handling those weapons. Against a regiment of Japanese troops, these division of well-trained swordsmen and spearmen were annihilated. That was the last case of Medieval weapon used en masse in modern times. In the Boxer rebellion, small contingents of embassy guards were able to hold off a spear-armed Boxer army for 55 days. The arrival of relief forces made short work of the Boxers. Despite the fantasies of ancient weapons skills, the same would happen to anyone who showed up at a modern gunfight with a sword. Twenty years of Medieval weapons experience would fall in an instant against a few rounds from an assault rifle.
The modern warrior has an assortment of skills. He is trained in a variety of firearms, from pistols and assault rifles to machine guns and grenade launchers. He also learns special combat skills, such as unarmed combat, knife fighting, bayonet fighting and the use of grenades and Claymore mines. The modern warrior learns to handle radios and field telephones. He is trained in map reading, land navigation and survival in adverse weather. His training also includes methods of protecting himself from the elements, chemical and biological weapons, nuclear attack, and gunfire. He learns to move on the battlefield and use cover and concealment. These are genuine warrior skills. Without them, a person is unable to pursue the conduct of war.
If you do not have genuine military training, you are not a warrior. Going to a two-week “mercenary school” or training as a World War II re-enactor does not cut it. War is not play, nor is it an “army man holiday.” Genuine military training comes from genuine military organizations.
Many people want the mantle of warrior, but they just do not have what it takes. For example, I have heard activists think themselves warriors because of their courtroom battles. I have heard politicians think themselves warriors for their political struggles. I have even heard single mothers say that they are warriors because they raise their children alone. All of these people may have been very brave and shown a lot of fortitude and tenacity in the face of adversity. We cannot deny that. However, the ability to change diapers, conduct a deposition or organize a protest has no relevance when the bullets are flying. For gunfights and military incursions, you do not need mommies, lawyers or politicians. You need people trained for a gunfight. The bravery of the others should be recognized, but it should also be understood that bravery alone is not enough. (That is one of the first things the army teaches. The bravado of “John Wayne” or “Rambo” does not make you a hero. It gets you killed and it endangers to soldiers around you.) Without proper training, a person is a liability to himself and the rest of his unit.
Any
soldier sitting in a foxhole getting ready for the next enemy attack wants to be
certain that the people next to him who claim to be warriors can do just that. If
a fellow shows up who claims he became a warrior by taking on corrupt government
officials, that soldier is not going to let him anywhere near his foxhole. His
inexperience could get everyone else killed.
Living through adversity as a civilian does not make a warrior. That has nothing to do with proper soldiering. I have been in adverse situations as a civilian. Here’s a nightmare for you: imagine being broke, homeless, too injured to work, too broke to get even basic medical care, and having to juggle three other situations and deal with two people too screwy to handle themselves. Yes, life is unfair. That is just one of several jackpots I dealt with. Granted, it was a great proving ground for magickal spells and such. It was also a difficult thing. Getting through it would not have qualified me as a warrior, though.
I have known others who have faced equally hard times. They showed tremendous fortitude and self control, but that did not make them warriors. I would trust any of them in a bad civilian situation, but would not want them anywhere near me in a military one. The plain fact is that a warrior’s specialty is war. Those without war skills are not warriors. Credit them for their bravery, discipline, endurance and determination, but understand that the only way to warrior status is having war skills.
This clouding of definitions is a recent thing. People like to think that taking on some kind of opposition puts them on par with the great military men of the ages. Yet even military men do not try to equate themselves with the greatest. For instance, when Norman Schwarzkopf directed the first Gulf War, you never heard him describe himself as being like Patton or Rommel. For that matter, Rommel never went around comparing himself to Hindenburg or Napoleon.
Even though I took my basic training in the early 1970s, many of those skills remain with me. I might not be the best fellow or even average on the modern battlefield (2008), but I would still be an asset rather than a liability.
Granted, my active warrior days are long behind me. Today I belong to a veteran’s organization rather than a military unit. However, whether the warrior thing is the past or present, the title has been earned. When you finish basic training and the sergeant refers to you as Soldier or Marine rather than Trainee or Boot, you have made it. ( I don’t know what they say to sailors or airmen....)
Are the police warriors? I have never been a policeman, so I can only speculate based on the few facts I have. Perhaps we should let this one answer itself.
Legitimate police are trained in the combat of their time, albeit for fighting criminals rather than enemy military organizations. They are trained to respond to situations involving violence and deadly force. As warriors protect their society from military danger, so police protect their jurisdictions from criminals. There is one piece of video that answers the question.
A few years ago, a couple of dangerous hooples decided to pull a do-or-die robbery in California. They wore the best body armor money can buy, and it was not just a vest. This was head to toe. These two were big body builders. They carried modified assault rifles that fired full automatic, and had massive drum magazines of armor piercing ammunition. They also had pistols and other weapons. The way those rifles were modified made them light machine guns rather than plain assault rifles.
The two robbed a bank in North Hollywood, and ended up in a shootout with police. Those policemen were outgunned. Several were hit. The police stayed in the fight. Here we had trained fighters defending against an armed attack. This was an urban gunfight.
You can find the video of the North Hollywood bank robbery around the Internet. Look at it. The police are trained for armed combat against criminals. They are as professional as any soldier. I think the video speaks for itself.
The policeman’s war is not that of the soldier. The parameters for combat are different. Along with being a law enforcement officer, he is also a public safety officer. This is a warrior after another manner. Be that as it may, that North Hollywood video speaks volumes. Note that most of the cops on the scene were not SWAT. They were regular uniformed officers. It takes balls to stand and hold when you are facing light machine guns with nothing more than a pistol.
While the police may be warriors, the term is rarely used to describe them. “Police officer” is much more specific to their role. Then there was the old policeman who prided himself that in his 30 year career, he only had to draw his weapon once. His main weapon was a combination of brains and smooth talking. You have to admire a man who can walk into a hot situation and take charge like that. There is a way of winning a battle without killing. He mastered it.
On the day I did the finishing touches of this article, an amazing thing happened. I was asked to do the invocation at the dedication fo a new gravestone for a Civil War veteran. A local Veteran who is also Pagan worked hard to get a new gravestone from the VA to replace one that was missing. The Civil War veteran, Private Lorenzo Reynolds, Company A, 11th Regiment, NJ Volunteer Infantry, had survived the war and lived until 1911. As a veteran and a Heathen, I feel deeply honored to be asked to perform this service for a fallen hero.
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