The American 'warrior'

Former US Marine Chris Clark went on two combat missions to Iraq, where he was in an elite special operations unit. As "American Sniper," a biography of top Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle, opens in German cinemas, Clark tells DW what draws young men into the elite levels of the US military - and what happens to them when they get out.

DW: "American Sniper" opens today in Germany. Would you recommend that German cinema-goers go see it?

Chris Clark: I think the film does a really good job on highlighting the struggle that any veteran faces when they go back to their society. I don't think that's just a US issue. I think soldiers and Marines from any nations who go into a combat role and then come back to their society have a problem re-integrating.

That said, this movie, in my opinion, is not political in its nature. Obviously there's a huge political debate around it. But the movie is really focusing on one individual, his experience in the Iraq War, and his struggle to readjust at home. Now, you can form whatever political narrative you want around it, but I think the film is void of a political stance. It does highlight Chris Kyle's patriotism, and his commitment to America and the mission, but that's one individual's experience and it's in no way a political documentary of the Iraq War.

"American Sniper" vividly reminds viewers that the military trains its soldiers and Marines to kill. What brings a person into that roll, and why did you do it?

I can't speak for everyone who enlists in the military, but I think a lot of people have a desire to serve their country. The United States was in two wars when I enlisted, both in Afghanistan and in Iraq. My personal thought process was that if the United States was at war, then I wanted to do my due diligence as a citizen and serve the country in the best way that I could.

That said, I didn't have the best understanding of politics at the time. I was young and not really educated on very many topics either domestically or in regards to foreign policy. But I think it came from an underlying desire to serve the country, serve a mission and serve something greater than myself. But I can't speak for everybody.

When you get into a more specialized or elite unit, you are going to find individuals who have a strong desire to be a professional warrior. That transcends any geo-political reasoning behind the effort.

Would you say "the warrior" is fundamentally American? And do you identify personally with it?

I personally identify with it, but I don't believe it's fundamentally American. There are warrior cultures within every citizenry internationally. It's a historical concept that is true today, but is not purely American. I think there are warriors in Iraq, in Afghanistan, and in every country on earth.

Critics have said Chris Kyle is depicted as someone who enjoys war and gets a kick out of killing. Based on his portrayal in the film, how typical do you think Chris Kyle was?

I think in my experience Chris Kyle does represent a typical elite soldier, Marine, or Navy SEAL. I don't even know verbatim exactly what he said about enjoying killing or anything along those lines, and I'm not going to go so far as to say that is the typical narrative of an individual serving in this capacity, but I will say that anyone who has that level of training in the US military and has chosen to do this as a profession - even if it's for a short time period - wants to perform the job they were trained for.

There's still an issue of morality that comes into play. I can't speak for everybody, but I personally was not put into a situation where I was asked to do acts that I considered immoral.

So you're in a combat situation and kill someone. Do you feel an individual sense of moral responsibility or write it off as just following orders?

In my experience, we are not just mindless killers following orders. I operated in a more elite unit, so there was definitely individual accountability. Even in the lower ranks, you were held accountable for your actions and you were asked to make decisions on the fly in a very stressful and dynamic environment. It wasn't as if I was just following orders and not using my intellect. The Marine Corps is structured in terms of small-unit leadership. In reconnaissance, if you're a team leader, you have a team of four or five individuals and every individual in that team is expected to be able to think and act autonomously. You have a lot of leeway in the decision-making process when it comes to engaging with the enemy. So you're not just following blindly and killing mindlessly.

People deal with the repercussions of their time overseas so differently, though. It's so personal to each individual.

The Holocaust still makes it very difficult for Germans to demonstrate national pride, and they tend to be very skeptical of American patriotism. Do you see patriotism as dangerous?

I think in a constitutional republic such as the United States where we elect leaders to represent the democratic sentiments of the citizens, patriotism is not dangerous. Patriotism is a reaction to the freedoms and liberties we are blessed to have in the United States and I think that fighting in defense of those freedoms is a noble and just cause.

I won't say that nationalism isn't dangerous. But in regards to American patriotism, I think it's healthy. But it depends on the regime structure in place. It can be very dangerous depending on who the governing force is.

The particularly poignant aspect of Chris Kyle's story is that he was shot and killed two years ago by a former Marine who was suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome. His killer was just this week convicted of the murder. Germany tends to be skeptical about the American attitude towards guns and their gun control laws. How would you explain the American obsession with guns to a German?

At the end of the day, the United States has a constitution that gives us the right to bear arms. So it's woven into the very fabric of American culture and society. And Americans' desire to retain the freedoms we've had since the Founding Fathers implemented them is not something I take issue with. I don't see every killing that happens in America - be it Chris Kyle's killing by Eddy Routh or a shooting in East Oakland - as an issue of gun control.

You are now out of the Marines and have co-founded a non-profit organization, Redstone, which supports veterans. How did you get involved with that?

Redstone is basically a non-profit organization based out of the San Francisco Bay Area. We take combat veterans who have returned and are looking to engage in meaningful, altruistic work and continue the teamwork and team structure you have in the military. We kind of replicate that and go overseas to do international aid and development projects. Right now we're involved in the Philippines and South East Asia in general.

We're trying to help veterans transition back into civilian society. My experience was that, when you're in such a tight-knit environment, especially when you're in combat and in a life-and-death situation on a repetitive basis - the bonds you share with people, the sense of mission and the greater purpose that you have is something you lose when you leave the military. That makes it very hard to adjust to civilian life. This is a mechanism to use the skills they have in a capacity for good.

Chris Clark enlisted in the United States Marine Corps at the age of 17 and went on to spend four years on active duty as reconnaissance operator with the First Recon Batallion, a special operations unit. He conducted two deployments to Iraq, in 2005 and again in 2006, where he worked in special operations in the Al Anbar Province and Fallujah. In 2006, he received a Purple Heart after suffering minor shrapnel wounds as the result of a suicide bomber attack.

After ending his active service, he spent several years in a special operations reserve unit, while simultaneously getting a degree in political science and international relations at Stanford University and working on Wall Street with City Group and Goldman Sachs. Clark recently co-founded Redstone, a non-profit organization that helps combat veterans reintegrate in society by getting them involved in international aid and development projects.