In Marine officer training we were taught to be decisive. Even a bad decision, I was told, is better than no decision at all. But the combination of imperfect judgment, the confidence of authority and absolute decisiveness does not produce measured outcomes.

陆战队军官的训练课程教导我们，行事要果断。他人告诉我，即使做出一个错误的决定，也总比没有决定要好。可是，有缺陷的判断、对上级的信心和绝对的果断加在一起，并不会产生可靠的结果。

Until that moment, our deployment in Afghanistan had been exhilarating because we felt invulnerable. This invulnerability in an environment of death was the most powerful sensation I’d ever experienced. I felt favored and possessed with the power to do anything. Instantly, those feelings were replaced by uncertainty and impotency. The initial report that we lost our first Marine stunned everyone who heard it.

在那一刻之前，我们这些部署在阿富汗的士兵一直都很振奋，因为我们感觉自己坚不可摧。在那种时常有人死亡的环境中，这种坚不可摧的念头，是我体验过的最强有力的感觉。我感觉受到了眷顾，而且痴迷于那种无所不能的感觉。很快，这些感觉就被不确定和无能为力的感觉所取代。我们失去了第一名士兵的消息刚刚传来时，每一个听到的人都震惊了。