Men Against Fire: The Problem of Battle Command

What happens when men come under fire?

S. L. A. Marshall asked this simple question in the aftermath of the Second World War and found some remarkable results.

Through countless interviews studies he found that fewer than a quarter of American soldiers actually fired weapons in any given action.

Men Against Fire: The Problem of Battle Command is a systematic analysis of this problem and how the U.S. military could overcome this through training, discipline, and above all, communication.

This book was incredibly well received by generals, military historians and analysts:

“Finally, it is the volume of fire that counts. You win if you can kill more of the enemy than he can kill you. If you cannot, you are defeated.” — Former Secretary of War, Robert P. Patterson.

“Our business, like any other, is to be learned by constant practice and experience; and our experience is to be had in war, not at reviews.” — Sir John Moore.

“The finest theories and most minute plans often crumble. Complex systems fall by the wayside. Parade ground formations disappear. Our splendidly trained leaders vanish. The good men which we had at the beginning are gone. Then raw truth is before us.” — Major General Charles W. O’Daniel.

"This is one of the great volumes on fighting published since World War II and should be required reading for every staff officer as well as every combat officer of the arms which fight on the ground. It deserves a place among the really great volumes on combat and command." — Military Affairs

“The soldier who can and will shoot is essential to victory in battle.” — General Bruce C. Clark

But Marshall was more than aware that the people who would benefit most from his work would be the soldiers on the front line: “Men who have been in battle know from first-hand experience that when the chips are down, a man fights to help the man next to him, just as a company fights to keep pace with its flanks. Things have to be that simple.”

“A penetrating analysis of behavior and leadership of men in active combat.” — Foreign Affairs

“A criticism of the present methods of infantry training is the author's challenge to the inadequacies of orientation courses, of present preparation for conditions on the field of combat, both physical and psychological.” — Kirkus Reviews

S. L. A. Marshall was a chief U.S. Army combat historian during World War II and the Korean War. He had served on the border with Mexico during the Pancho Villa Expedition before serving in France during World War I. He wrote over thirty books about warfare. Men Against Fire was first published in 1947. Marshall passed away in 1977.