Autobiographical accounts of military hand-to-hand combat

The current study examines autobiographical accounts of soldiers to enhance our understanding of the demands faced, and the subsequent emotional responses experienced, during the military combat task of hand-to-hand fighting. Nine autobiographies with descriptions of military hand-to-hand fighting were sampled, and three themes were developed: unexpected, life-threatening, and killing. The findings extend the current literature by illustrating the severe psychological strain soldiers face from hand-to-hand fighting situations, such as having to apply lethal actions against an opponent, and suggesting how in situ cognitive performance degradations can result from the encountered fear-based affective components. Based on this study, recommendations are offered to enhance representativeness in training for military hand-to-hand fighting. The autobiographical analysis in this study presents an approach for enhancing existing and future interview-based research that explores affective components of martial arts that prepare for violent conflicts.