Soldiers climbing high sought closer view (5)
I believe the answer is:
sight
'view' is the definition.
(I know that view can be written as sight)
'soldiers climbing high sought closer' is the wordplay.
'soldiers' becomes 'gis' (GI is an informal term for a US soldier).
'climbing' is a reversal indicator (in a down clue, letters climb up).
'closer' indicates one should take the final letters (the letter which 'closes' the word).
The final letters of 'high sought' are 'ht'.
'gis' backwards is 'sig'.
'sig'+'ht'='SIGHT'
(Other definitions for sight that I've seen before include "monstrosity" , "Glimpse" , "The ability to see - spectacle" , "Vision, ability to see" , "Spectacle; aiming aid" .)