Importance Of Unit Cohesion

Unit cohesion is one of the most important things you can have in the army. They book definition says “defined by one former United States Chief of staff in the early 1980s as "the bonding together of soldiers in such a way as to sustain their will and commitment to each other, the unit, and mission accomplishment, despite combat or mission stress". Unit cohesion It is one things that keeps soldiers alive, wether it is in combat or training. Not every platoon or company or unit has unit cohesion, now is it good or bad. Good cohesion is basically when soldiers have each others back no matter what. It is when one soldiers knows what the next soldier is going to do without communicating, and doing it right and safely. It is about more then caring about each and other and looking out for each other. It’s about know

what each likes and dislikes, what makes then happy and what makes then cry. In the book Band of Brothers they explain it when with 3 major topics “NCO’s, time spent together, and surviving it all. Band of Brothers is about E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne and different engagements they company has went though from training in the states to training, over seas. To jumping and into Normandy and fighting their way to Germany and hitlers mountain. Also it talks about each character and their lifestyle and the little stories that each and every soldier had from the time they join the airborne until the time they got out.

NCO’s basically run the army and keep it on a steady path.

Officers in the army do a great job to. The reason the NCO’s are most important Because the spend the most time with the soldiers. They understand the soldiers more then the officer do because they are always around them more. In the book Band of brothers the NCO’s is what makes the company the one of best companies in world war 2. 1st Sgt Lipton in my personal opinion is the best NCO’s because he displays the ultimate show of leadership he was a natural born leader. From the time that Lipton was a regular sergeant until he became a first sergeant he always had a bond with the men that they would listen to him, more than anybody else. When Easy company lost Captain Winter because he got promoted and the new Lt. accidentally got shot by a worry some private. The new leader that easy company received wasn’t really a leader not cause he made bad decision, it was cause he didn’t make decision at all and he never spent time with his soldiers, and get to know them. The NCO’s are what kept the company together when they didn’t have a leader, and when the company would go through tough times in

battle.

The time that soldiers spend together is the easiest way to build unit cohesion in the army. I can related to this in a way, When I first came to Virginia state as a freshman I was in the ROTC program with a many cadets. The ones that stayed in the program all the way up to our MSlll year, that didn’t drop out or come in late I have a closer cohesion we understand each other better then the ones that join the program late or dropped it and came back. We spent the most time together that is how are group cohesion became stronger. When soldiers spend years together the have no choice but to be in go cohesion. Because they start to care for each other, because they been around each other for a long time. So they start to understand how each other tick and having each other’s back. In band of brothers Before the company ever made Their first jump into Normandy they spent 2 years together training. A week or two before Easy company jumped into Normandy, They received a new executive officer Lynn Compton “Buck”. Since Buck was new to the company he had to earn the soldiers trust. By doing that, he play cards with the soldiers, gambling trying to get closers with soldiers so they would accept him. Since he didn’t have 2 years with the company had earn his way in. Since easy company was together for so long they became one of the best companies in the airborne, because they had the best unit cohesion. As the war went on the bond that they had only got stronger and stronger. Also another reason why Easy company was so good was because of Captain Herbert Sobel, He pushed easy passed there breaking point and then some. He got shaky in the field and in war that gets people killed and none of the soldiers liked him because of that. As the years went on Easy company had to deal with Captain Sobel until he was switch out and went to be a instructor. While Sobel was there everybody hated him so that was one thing that the whole company could connected on or come together and talk about. Eases cohesion become strong before they even step foot to fight the enemy because of that.
Surviving it all only comes when people have been through it together and came out better and stronger on the other side. When the soldiers went to airborne training they came in not really knowing each other, they know who each other was and were friends. As time went on through airborne training and getting ready to jump in to Normandy and fight. They become closer as a group of friends then they were when the showed up on their first day. Because they been through it together dealing with captain Sobel, Running up the hill at Currahee with PT’s or in full battle raddle and Jumping out of planes. I can relate in someway at basic training, I went to basic training at fort Benning for Infantry Basic training which is one of the hardest basic trainings. I went in not really knowing anybody but as time went on I grew closer with those guys, cause we be through it. Stuff that other basic trainings don’t do. Our FTX was 5 days and 5 nights and ended with a 8 mile ruck back to a place called honor hill. The first 2 days at FTX there was a real bad storm and it storm the whole day we slept in foxholes those 2 nights in the storm. Another thing that we went through was Something Called battle march and shoot in the whole company that was the day that everybody remembered, because no other basic training does that. Since we survived that we all started to come even closer. There is only one thing that bonds humans closer and that is being in combat. Easy company was in so many engagements that their bond was the strongest in the airborne, that is why their unit cohesion was such a good one. It was because they been through it and survived it all. Their was one part in the book during they battle of the bulge when the men were laying in their foxholes that They were bombarded numerous times, holding the man next to them. No other time will a man experience fear like that, they only time in my personal opinion when someone would be more scared then that was assaulting Omaha beach in 1944.
Once you been through stuff like that you can’t help but be closer then brothers, having each others back willing to lay your life on the line for the person next to you, That’s real unit cohesion. That is why Easy company, 506th regiment, 101st airborne was one of the best military unit’s thought out history. Because everybody in the company was willing to die for the man next to him, and every soldier knew that the man next time him was willing to die for him. Once unit’s start thinking like that our Army will be the best army, even tho we already are. The band of brothers was a good book I like military history so I was tuned in to every page. I read it when I was at basic Training It kind of got my mind off of things when we had down time there.