A Study of Human Factors that Affect Combat Effectiveness on the Battlefield

Abstract

This study was designed to provide empirical data which would show what relationship existed among nine human factors and combat effectiveness of soldiers on the battlefield. These human factors were: leadership, training, combat experience, perception of survival possibility, acceptance by the unit, fatigue, hunger, the ability to withstand fire, and a soldier's belief in what he was doing was right. The study focused upon a sample of fifty Army infantry battalion commanders within the continental United States who had served as small-unit combat leaders in Vietnam. Data was obtained by the use of a mailed survey. The respondents tended to agree that among all of the human factors, leadership was strongly related to combat effectiveness. Among the nine human factors, respondents felt that leadership and training were the most important human factors relating to combat effectiveness. The respondents commented extensively that cohesion, training, belief in what they were doing, and leadership were the main motivators behind the soldier's willingness to fight.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 1982
Accession Number
ADA121951

Entities

People

  • Charles D. Marashian

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Combat Operations
  • Data Science
  • Factor Analysis
  • Group Dynamics
  • Health Services
  • Information Science
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Science
  • Plastic Explosives
  • Prisoners Of War
  • Psychological Phenomena And Processes
  • Psychology
  • Statistical Analysis
  • Surveys
  • Teamwork
  • Training
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Military History / Militaries and War Studies
  • Military Leadership and Professional Education.
  • Organizational Psychology.