Focalizing Warfighters : Combat Cohesion from Below

In this dissertation I inquire into the conditions that enable cohesive combat performance. I does so by critiquing existing literature on methodological grounds, arguing that the warfighters are studied but unheard, leading to an empirical gap with theoretical implications. To remedy the situation, I employed an ethnographic approach which focalizes warfighters, narratively uncovering the meaning-making of those who fight. I collected empirics in Ukraine, predominantly along the frontlines during the 2023 counter-offensive. The results were then analyzed for patterns of meaning and point towards combat cohesion as an instantiated phenomenon enabled by three conditions. These three conditions are the following. First, motivation to fight stems from the warfighter’s individual sense of Self as a whole and temporally continuously self-narrated person who must act to preserve their sense of Self upon the advent of war. Second, organizational and immediate leaders need to be narrated as worthy enough to follow. Lastly, warfighters need shared fighting skills and a library of narratives that inform the individual warfighter of how to ‘read’ battle as it unfolds and their ability to act in order to affect the outcome. The results hold implications for the study and conduct of military organizations and warfighters.