How do you build comradery?

Infantry School

I HAVE OFTEN WONDERED about the fortitude of men who could march shoulder-to-shoulder into the face of withering fire without breaking ranks. The paintings of massed troops facing modern weapons, especially during the American Civil War and World War I, always sends a shiver up my spine. How could they do that? 

Early guns were infamously inaccurate and soldiers fired in volleys. Thousands of muskets fired simultaneously might hit a few targets if they were close enough. A person could hope to survive the misguided hail of bullets. As holes appeared in lines they were quickly filled with replacements from behind. The greatest danger came when the two armies met and clashed, and the men fought with bayonets affixed to the ends of their weapons much as ancient armies fought with spears. Only massed, disciplined forces could prevail.

As rifles replaced muskets and the minié ball replaced round shot, the odds of being killed or wounded by a shot fired at a distance increased exponentially. Still, generals sent massed formations into battle and I believe that the fortitude of these soldiers must have been raised to heroic proportions. How could they march shoulder-to-shoulder when their comrades were falling all around them? Yes, there was the fear that their own officers would kill them if they turned and ran. But, I learned there was an even greater fear that kept them rooted to the ranks. The fear of abandoning their buddies.

Even though individual riflemen in modern Armies fight from pits and behind cover, the Army must continue to instill that sense of comradery that is needed to maintain the cohesiveness of every fighting unit. Almost everything we did in Basic Combat Training contributed to that bond.

For example, every recruit was issued one half of a tent – known as a “shelter-half.” Two could button their halves together to make one complete tent. Anyone who didn't have a buddy could set up their tent half alone to make a lean-to. It was serviceable but not quite as good as a complete tent. In fact, everything we did in training was better with a buddy. The lesson wasn't lost on us. We soon figured out that we had a better chance of surviving the battlefield if we took care of our buddies and they took care of us.

There were some who just couldn't get along with the other recruits. They tried to survive training on their own. It was a strategy for failure. No one had to tell us. It became more and more apparent with every passing day of Basic Combat Training.

A forced march was the perfect demonstration of this concept. Hiking in formation while carrying forty or fifty pounds of gear in a rucksack on your back and a nineteen pound rifle slung over your shoulder gets pretty tiring after the first couple of miles, especially when you're walking on soft dirt. Army training centers had dirt roads that paralleled paved ones. These were used by tracked vehicles. The treads on tanks and armored personnel carriers would quickly tear up macadam roads, so those types of vehicles drove the dirt roads called tank trails. That's were we hiked, on the tank trails.

Recruits might survive twenty such forced marches without a problem, only to fall out of ranks unpredictably on the twenty-first. They weren't necessary sick or suffering, it just happened. When it did, their buddies would strip off their gear and distribute among themselves. Then, one man on either side of the ailing recruit would grab an arm and prop him up until he recovered or they reached the end of the march. Those who just couldn't get along with the other recruits often found themselves abandoned along the side of the road waiting for a ride back. Sure, it was easier than marching all the way but a warning of what might happen on the battlefield unless they learned to go along and get along.