Who is Paddy Griffith from On Killing and what is their importance?

Paddy Griffith is mentioned only in the very beginning of the book. One of the key observations made by Paddy and many others is that soldiers in combat have transformed killing into potent posturing by the firing of their weapons. They feel release especially when they won't or can't kill the enemy. The combination of the noise and release of powerful posturing and its simultaneous avoidance of any lethal confrontation made the firing of guns a preferred choice over the typically more lethal use of the bow. This was observable in the American Civil War and also explains why in Vietnam, American soldiers expended 50,000 rounds of ammunition per enemy casualty when the efficient sniper would expend fewer than 2 rounds of ammunition on average to achieve the same result. The noise and shower of bullets does often scare the enemy away.