[April 30, 2025] Inevitably, the discussion turned to the question, “What is a warrior?” A small group of us were discussing this topic over a few “near-beers” the night before our military unit was to fly into Baghdad, Iraq. For most of us, it would be the first time we would see combat. The “what is a warrior” question was about whether we were warriors.
How would our military unit perform? How would we personally perform? Would fear overtake us? Would we dishonor our comrades, our family, our nation? We knew that warriors win battles. Were we warriors?
The many tasks we had to perform before boarding the C-130 USAF cargo airplane out of Kuwait crowded out time to answer all those questions. But we made a list of those traits, and here they are, as much as I can remember, and generally in the right order of importance.
We decided all these are required to be a warrior. Our list was only partly correct.
A warrior is a man who operates with the sole purpose of killing the enemy by all means available.
Many will strongly disagree with me because they will argue that anyone who joins the military or calls himself a warrior is, by definition, a warrior. Thinking like this is shockingly naive. As my military mentors used to say, “You’ll know a warrior when you see him.”
Here is a list of traits we talked about:
- Mentally and physically strong
- Technically skilled in warfighting skills
- Adaptable and flexible
- Refuses to let fear conquer
- Reliable and predictable
- Loyalty to the unit
- Keeps self, equipment, and weapons clean and in working order. Insists others do the same.
- Fast learner
- Always prepared
- Aggressive
- Willing to engage the enemy without reservations, anytime, and any place
- Works without detailed instructions
- Takes responsibility
- Never whines or makes excuses
- Does not tolerate laziness or sloppiness
- Communicates clearly
- Takes orders easily and does a sanity check on them
My personal opinion at the time was that this list was a bit long. It was asking a lot from our soldiers. Looking back, however, the vast majority of our men and women failed to meet the definition of a warrior.
Being under enemy fire is a very personal event. Strong people get stronger and more resilient in combat. The majority are better people for it. The weak struggle, some improve. Warriors are developed in the crucial of the battlefield. They are laser-focused on their single pursuit. The list above is not about warriors but about a professional soldier.
The list was rather good. We were to review our thoughts on it infrequently, but we never changed the list. We also no longer talked about warriors.
We were professionals, but we were not warriors.
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Please read my books:
BIG FAN OF GEN. SATTERFIELD. TY.
I enjoyed this different look at the “warrior.”
Gen. Satterfield is on the right track here. I’d like to read more. I thought he was going for the idea that a true warrior on the battlefield can only be a strong man devoted to killing the enemy. His message is simple, without warriors, America is doomed. And it takes a lot of effort to create a warrior, not money because the warrior exists for the mission, not for the money. That’s why warriors are nor high in rank. But our senior military officers needed to grow up as warriors because that’s the only way to properly lead them into battle.
Nick, wel, said and good analysis of Gen. S. blog post.
I think it needs more development and precision. There is, perhaps, an unclear distinction between the soldier-warrior and today’s push button professional. What that is, IDK. But, I have complete confidence in Gen. S. to nail it down.
I look forward to more on this topic. And, as a side note, I always laugh at those who call themselves “social justice warriors” because they are just a bunch of wimps and cowards.
I never gave this idea of a “warrior” but I’ll be paying more future attention. This is a similar article to one about a decade ago and I agree with Yusaf (below) that Gen. Satterfield is still developing the concept. So, don’t make assumptions about you may or may not think what a warrior is.
Very nice. Thanks, Gen. Satterfield.
More than “nice.” Gen. Satterfield is saying that there are very few real warriors out there. And he is beginning to develop what a warrior is, and what a warrior is not. We like to think we are warriors of some type but the vast majority of us are not.
Correct. 👍
Of course, yet we look forward to much great thinking here and making a contribution. 👍👍👍👍👍