The Combat Soldier: Infantry Tactics and Cohesion in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries

"How are soldiers able to fight together in combat and why are they willing to do so? The phenomenon of small-group cohesion on the battlefield has long fascinated social scientists, philosophers, and historians. Examining the evolution of infantry platoon tactics from the First World War to current operations in Afghanistan, this book proposes a provocative sociological thesis. It challenges many existing presumptions about military cohesion and combat performance by highlighting the fundamental difference between cohesion displayed by the citizen soldiers of the twentieth century and today’s professionals. Against widely accepted myths, this book demonstrates that, in fact, the combat performance of the citizen infantry was poor. Although modern forms of fire and movement tactics were identified by 1917, the citizen soldiers which fought in the two world wars, Korea, and Vietnam more often relied on costly mass bayonet charges or individual heroism, motivated by appeals to their masculinity and common national, ethnic, or racial identities. In the professional armies which began to emerge in the 1960s and 1970s, small-group cohesion has taken a quite different form. Professional soldiers are no longer primarily motivated by political ideology or common social identities but are united around refined collective drills which they learn to perform instinctively together through intensive training. In the twenty-first-century army, cohesion is now primarily based on professional competence. Not only has professionalism transformed combat performance but it has allowed groups once excluded from the army and the infantry to fight as soldiers; ethnic minorities, gays, and, finally, women can now fight on the front line. The book concludes by exploring the wider implications of professionalization in society.How are soldiers able to fight together in combat and why are they willing to do so? The phenomenon of small-group cohesion on the battlefield has long fascinated social scientists, philosophers, and historians. Examining the evolution of infantry platoon tactics from the First World War to current operations in Afghanistan, this book proposes a provocative sociological thesis. It challenges many existing presumptions about military cohesion and combat performance by highlighting the fundamental difference between cohesion displayed by the citizen soldiers of the twentieth century and today’s professionals. Against widely accepted myths, this book demonstrates that, in fact, the combat performance of the citizen infantry was poor. Although modern forms of fire and movement tactics were identified by 1917, the citizen soldiers which fought in the two world wars, Korea, and Vietnam more often relied on costly mass bayonet charges or individual heroism, motivated by appeals to their masculinity and common national, ethnic, or racial identities. In the professional armies which began to emerge in the 1960s and 1970s, small-group cohesion has taken a quite different form. Professional soldiers are no longer primarily motivated by political ideology or common social identities but are united around refined collective drills which they learn to perform instinctively together through intensive training. In the twenty-first-century army, cohesion is now primarily based on professional competence. Not only has professionalism transformed combat performance but it has allowed groups once excluded from the army and the infantry to fight as soldiers; ethnic minorities, gays, and, finally, women can now fight on the front line. The book concludes by exploring the wider implications of professionalization in society.How are soldiers able to fight together in combat and why are they willing to do so? The phenomenon of small-group cohesion on the battlefield has long fascinated social scientists, philosophers, and historians. Examining the evolution of infantry platoon tactics from the First World War to current operations in Afghanistan, this book proposes a provocative sociological thesis. It challenges many existing presumptions about military cohesion and combat performance by highlighting the fundamental difference between cohesion displayed by the citizen soldiers of the twentieth century and today’s professionals. Against widely accepted myths, this book demonstrates that, in fact, the combat performance of the citizen infantry was poor. Although modern forms of fire and movement tactics were identified by 1917, the citizen soldiers which fought in the two world wars, Korea, and Vietnam more often relied on costly mass bayonet charges or individual heroism, motivated by appeals to their masculinity and common national, ethnic, or racial identities. In the professional armies which began to emerge in the 1960s and 1970s, small-group cohesion has taken a quite different form. Professional soldiers are no longer primarily motivated by political ideology or common social identities but are united around refined collective drills which they learn to perform instinctively together through intensive training. In the twenty-first-century army, cohesion is now primarily based on professional competence. Not only has professionalism transformed combat performance but it has allowed groups once excluded from the army and the infantry to fight as soldiers; ethnic minorities, gays, and, finally, women can now fight on the front line. The book concludes by exploring the wider implications of professionalization in society." --Publisher's website.