According to my Dad, part of this was due to the circumstances of the
Depression. For many, the armed forces were - literally - a better
alternative to whatever was available at home. So there was a stronger
motivation to treat one's unit as a real "home" and not just as a waypoint.
And thus easier to get folks interested in "community" stuff like softball
leagues.

Also there was a stronger sense of community in the US 70 years ago. We
were a much more homogeneous society then and diversity (as we know it
today) essentially did not exist in the armed forces.

From the command side, there were many collateral duties for junior officers
like Athletics Officer on the larger afloat units - and these really meant
something as JOs were in part evaluated on how well they performed here as
well as with their more traditional duties. For example, if you were the
boxing coach on a battleship you were expected to find and develop
contenders within your ship's company for the fleet Battle Force boxing
championships. Today, with administrivia overflowing from JO in-baskets,
such attention to things like unit athletics has fallen by the wayside.

Having said the above, I'm very impressed by the various expressions of unit
pride I see emanating from the Iraq occupation. We've all read any number
of stories about wounded service members expressing concern for their
unit-mates and wanting to get back with them as soon as possible.

So maybe the old-fashioned kind of pride hasn't disappeared at all, but
taken on a new form.
--
Mike Kanze

"Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society."

-Mark Twain


"Penta" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 21 Jan 2004 18:57:00 -0800, "Mike Kanze"
wrote:


Dad adds that this was a time when there was considerable unit pride
within
individual ships. More positive expressions of this pride were found in
athletic activities like softball leagues, boxing "smokers," liberty boat
races (these had oars back then) and the like. It was quite an honor,
for
example, to be the Pacific Fleet boxing champion in one's weight class.

You'll pardon me for saying that I wonder how we could get that back,
including in the Army and other services.

Thoughts, all? How WOULD one work on unit pride/unit
identification/unit cohesion in the modern environment?

John