HARD TRUTH

LtCol Dave Grossman was born in Frankfurt, West Germany on August 23, 1956. His career includes service in the U.S. Army as a sergeant in the 82nd Airborne Division, a platoon leader in the 9th Infantry Division, a general staff officer, a company commander in the 7th (Light) Infantry Division as well as a paratrooper and graduate of Ranger School. He went on to become a professor of psychology at West Point. In February 1998, Grossman retired from the military as a professor of military science at Arkansas State University. He  founded the Killology Research Group to educate law enforcement officers and soldiers how to improve outcomes in lethal encounters.  Grossman also speaks at civilian events on ways to reduce violence in society and deal with the aftermath of violent events such as school shootings. 

His first book, On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society is an analysis of the psychological processes involved with killing another human being. In it, he reveals evidence that most people have a phobia-level response to violence, and that soldiers need to be specifically trained to kill. In Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill: A Call to Action Against TV, Movie and Video Game Violence, Grossman argues that the techniques used by armies to train soldiers to kill are mirrored in certain types of video games.  His third non-fiction book, On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace, is an extension of the first, intended to provide coping strategies for dealing with the physiological and psychological effects of violence for people forced to kill.  The call-in number is (664) 716-4621, then press 1 so I know that you’d like to speak.  Please be mindful of your background noise.   Looking forward to hearing you all this Saturday.