Combat Cohesion in Soviet and American Military Units
Abstract
Whenever comparisons are made between the Soviet and American Armies, the focus inevitably falls upon weapons systems and employment techniques. Arguments abound in which stockpiles of tanks, missiles, aircraft, submarines, and other implements of warfare are assessed for the technological advantages which will carry the day in combat. Even when troops are compared, it is from the perspective of relative numbers: thus, the recurrent theme that Soviet ground forces outnumber American forces by ominous proportions. While there is no doubt that such comparisons are valuable and important, there seems little attention given to the quality of troops which will be called upon to bear the burden of combat. Moreover, there is almost no attention paid to the very different theoretical conceptions which underlie the training doctrines of both armies. It is often overlooked that the Soviet doctrine which supports training programs designed to produce reliable and effective fighting units is radically different from American doctrine. In short, both armies proceed from starkly different ideas as to what makes men fight and what techniques are required to keep fighting units cohesive and effective in combat. There is, as far as I can discover, no study which has systematically compared Soviet and American models of combat cohesion. This gap in our studies is an important one which needs attention. This paper deals with the subject of cohesion in military units. No army can be considered effective unless it can rely upon its units to cohere under the terrifying stress of combat. Moreover, no army can expect to develop highly cohesive units unless it first develops theoretical doctrines which support the development and application of specific techniques which are designed to build cohesion.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1978
- Accession Number
- ADA531960
Entities
People
- Richard A. Gabriel
Organizations
- United States Army War College