Why Military Cohesion Matters

Modern War Institute

John Amble

Government, News

4.7 • 798 Ratings

🗓️ 26 July 2024

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The term "cohesion" features prominently in discussions of military effectiveness, especially at the small-unit level. We all know intuitively what it means, but understanding how to develop and nurture it in practice is a challenge. That's even more true as technological advances continue to make constant connectivity with the outside world easier, even from a battlefield. How do soldiers' stresses from home impact cohesion? What about when soldiers no longer process shared traumatic experiences together? John Spencer spent twenty-five years as an infantry soldier and officer, including leading troops in combat. His book Connected Soldiers is based on both his personal experience and deep research. He joins this episode to discuss how unit cohesion affects military performance and how leaders can foster its development.

Transcript

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0:00.0	There's something called social cohesion, which means I've formed a bond to where I'm going to put the needs of that person or that group above my own self-centered needs.
0:15.4	Every part of the daily practices of how we were fighting, how we were living was bonding us together.
0:22.9	There is a limit to knowing somebody at an interpersonal level. I think it maxes out like at
0:29.0	150, which oddly is about the max of a company.
0:33.0	Hey, welcome back to the Modern War Institute podcast. I'm John Ambo, editorial director at MWI,
0:38.3	and this episode was a special one for me because I got the chance to talk about a fascinating
0:42.8	subject with a colleague that has been a really influential part of MWI since the organization's
0:48.8	beginning. Many listeners will know John Spencer. He's MWI's chair of Urban Warfare Studies and one of the foremost experts on the subject of urban warfare.
0:58.6	But he also spent 25 years as an infantry soldier and officer.
1:02.4	Based on his experiences and a lot of research, he recently finished a book called Connected Soldiers.
1:08.3	The book weaves together a number of themes, but chief among them
1:11.6	is the importance of cohesion in military units. He talks specifically about the way that technology,
1:17.7	social media and smartphones, and constant connectivity with the outside world can disrupt what he
1:23.1	calls the band of brothers effect, the process of building that cohesion. It's a really interesting
1:28.8	discussion full of insights, not just from his extensive research, but also from his
1:33.2	firsthand experience leading soldiers in combat. Before we get to it, though, as always, just a
1:38.8	couple quick notes. First, if you're enjoying the MWI podcast wherever you're listening,
1:43.8	please take a second to give it a rating or leave a review. And second, as always, if you're enjoying the MWI podcast wherever you're listening, please take a second to give it a rating or legal review.
1:46.8	And second, as always, what you're here in this episode are the views of the participants and don't represent those of West Point, the Army, or any other agency of the U.S. government.
1:55.6	All right, here's my conversation with John Spencer.
2:08.5	John, thank you for joining me on the MWI podcast.
2:10.9	Hey, well, thanks for having me back.
	...

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