An Alternative Perspective to Savage and Gabriel

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Abstract
This article presents an alternative explanation to primary group dynamics presented in Savage and Gabriel's study of disintegration in the US Army in Vietnam. This alternative is based on two points: first, the lack of evidence that primary groups ceased to exists; rather, they remained essential for proving mutual support; second, the disintegration of the American Army in Vietnam may be viewed as a result of disarticulation of the primary group from military and society. As Little argued, rotation policies fragmented platoons into cleavages but did not shatter it. Alternatively, the author argues that primary groups cannot be viewed in isolation, but are effectively linked to secondary symbols of the military organization through immediate leaders. The failure of the Army to integrate primary groups with the formal military organization and society at large conditioned the extent of disintegration in the American forces in Vietnam.

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