In introducing its conclusions, the Marine Corps cites the “the brutal and extremely physical nature of direct ground combat, often marked by close, interpersonal violence.” 

It further argues that the nature of battle “remains largely unchanged throughout centuries of warfare, despite technological advancements.” 

Mr. Newbold echoes similar points, citing “the burden of 30 to 80 pounds of personal equipment, mind-bending physical exertion, energy-sapping adrenaline highs, or the fact that the threadbare clothes you wore were unchanged for over three weeks and may have been ‘scented’ by everything from food, to blood, dysentery, and whatever was in the dirt that constituted your bed. And don’t forget insects of legendary proportion and number,” he adds in his op-ed, published by the War on the Rocks, a highly-regarded military blog. 

“More importantly,” Newbold argues, are the bonds with comrades who experienced the “shared duties of clearing the urinals, the pleasures of a several nights of hilarious debauchery, and multiple near-death experiences — a comrade in arms who has heard more about your personal thoughts than your most intimate friends or family.”