Do elite soldiers fear becoming prisoners of war?

Soldiers usually do not fear to become prisoners of war, Special Forces are no exception. When you go to war, there is only one big fear that overshadows everything: You might die in combat. All the other fears, like getting wounded, becoming crazy or getting captured have to take a number and wait in line.

Additionally, Special Forces soldiers usually have enemy contact only for a very short, but intensive time in complicated missions. They are too busy trying not to screw up, there is not much time to think about any possible negative outcomes of their mission.

A few words about the SERE(Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) training, that combat soldiers, Special Operations Forces personnel and pilots go through:

SERE training has its limits. In modern conflicts, especially in counterinsurgencies, the enemy uses a multitude of different ways to (mis)treat their POWs and it’s impossible to prepare a soldier for all these possibilities.

Like hand-to-hand combat or NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) warfare training, SERE teaches you the basics, for the very slim chance that you might need them one day. Its main purpose is to keep a soldier’s mind at ease when he or she deploys to a combat zone.

To survive a POW camp mainly depends on your mental strength and much less on physical endurance or technical skills. Special Forces soldiers go through a number of courses which bring them to their limits, mentally and physically. This is why they are relatively better prepared to survive the hardships of imprisonment.

The short answer: No, elite soldiers don’t fear capture, because they are much too busy and there are worse things to be afraid of.

Source: https://www.quora.com/Do-elite-soldi...isoners-of-war