Thanks, that was an interesting article. Yet, in the light of the OP, it also seems to be tied to specific American culture. It seems that there are societies (like in Europe) where going to war doesn't have so much that connotation of "being a man". Maybe they just do the ritual differently, for example, in Nordic countries, by trekking and hill-climbing.

Now that I think about it, I am not sure this article is in disagreement with OP. The OP argues that war is a capacity, not some given natural trait. This article claims that people have need for "the ritual of manhood", whatever that is, but doesn't claim it has to be "going to a war". So even Junger may consider the war to be a capacity.