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Why is operating underground different than operating on the surface? Because as soon as you enter the domain, you are in a fight with the environment as much as the enemy. Underground, the air you breathe becomes a concern. A single weapon discharge can consume oxygen, fill confined spaces with smoke, and degrade visibility. The environment affects human physiology, real potential to cause disorientation, loss of time and direction, vertigo, claustrophobia, fatigue, and increased stress. Temperature, humidity, dust, toxic gases, flooding, structural collapse, and confined spaces all create hazards that do not exist, or exist to a far lesser degree, on the surface. The underground environment also strips away many of the advantages modern militaries take for granted. GPS is denied. Satellite communications are denied. Line-of-sight radio communications are severely degraded or entirely blocked. Sensors that work well on the surface often become ineffective underground. As a result, subterranean operations require different tactics, techniques, procedures, and equipment. Soldiers need specialized systems to navigate, communicate, detect threats, provide medical aid, sustain themselves, and fight effectively. Even basic tasks such as moving, shooting, maintaining situational awareness, evacuating casualties, and commanding forces become exponentially more difficult beneath the surface. Success underground is not simply a matter of taking surface forces and moving them below ground. It requires specialized training, equipment, leadership, and doctrine designed for one of the most challenging environments in warfare.