This is coolbert: When I was speaking in a previous post about the friction of war, I was speaking about the verity # 12 of De Puy. That being:

12. Combat activities are always less slower, less productive, and less efficient than anticipated.

Friction of war is the term used by Clausewitz. Now, De Puy maintains, as I have said, that this friction is a result of the fear factor of combat. This is a factor that cannot be simulated in training. And this is true. However, we should consider that there are some activities that people participate in that do introduce the factor of fear. You have an actual danger of dying or being severely injured. One of these activities is sport parachuting. Obviously, leaping out of an airplane is a very unnatural activity. You can die or get hurt. Obvious! Military parachuting in itself should be thought of as a filter mechanism. Allows the most fit, able, motivated soldiers to pass through a regimen of training that introduces fear as a constant factor of their duties as a soldier. Whether the soldier actually does parachute in combat is not germane. The actual parachuting of an entire airborne division, ala D-Day Invasion, is probably a thing of the past. What the training as a paratrooper does, is filter out the less able and less motivated and prepare the able and motivated for dangerous combat missions.

coolbert.