I__. - International Military Testing Association

COHESION IN CONTEXT
Guy L. Siebold
U.S. Army Research Institute for the
Behavioral and Social Sciences
In the last few years, there has been a substantial amount
of research on military unit cohesion. The research, by this
author and others, has addressed some key questions: what is
cohesion, how does it differ from similar constructs {e.g.,
bonding and morale), how can it be measured, what impact does it
have, and how does it change over time. However, left relatively
unaddressed are the questions of how cohesion is associated with
other major job related and organizational constructs and which
of these constructs, relative,to each other, really makes a
difference in organizational performance. The research presented
in this paper was designed to start to answer these latter two,
unaddressed questions. Specifically, the research examined the
association between unit cohesion and unit performance directly
and in the context of the platoon average degree of job
satisfaction and platoon level of training proficiency.
Method and Sample
Data were collected by questionnaire from soldiers (squad
members, squad leaders, platoon sergeants, and platoon leaders)
within five light infantry battalions at three points in time.
The first point in time (Base) was 4-G months before the
battalion was scheduled to go through a training rotatior at
either the U.S. Army National Training Center (NTC), Fort Irwin,
CA or the U.S. Army Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC), Fort
Chaffee, AR. The second point in time (Pre-rotation) was 2-4
weeks before the rotation: the third point (Post-rotationj -&as L-
4 weeks after the training rotation. Questionnaires were
administered by researchers from the U.S. Army Research
Institute.
Base and pre-rotation questionnaires were given typically to
one company of. soldiers at a time in a classroom c.r dayroom
setting and, being up to 160 items long, took the average soldier
about 30 minutes to complete after instructions. Soldiers
responded on a machine readable answer sheet. Post-rotation
questionnaires were short (21 items plus some unit and position
identification questions) and took soldiers less than ,lO minutes
to complete; responses were made on the questionnaire itself.
Post-rotation questionnaires were given at the st;?rt of
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The views expressed in this paper are those cf the :ii;thor
and do not necessarily reflect the views of the c.C. *_^ >- v- 7 II . . 1.
Research Institute or the Department of the Arm{.