[HorseSoldier]

Unit cohesion ultimately reminds me of the Arab proverb that says something about "me against my brother, but my brother and I against the world." You'll always have various internal conflicts based on personalities, objectives (the self-promoters who put themselves ahead of the mission that various people have talked about, for instance), competency, and a million other factors like regulars vs draftees, racial/ethnic divisions, etc. How effectively leadership deals with those internal divisions is often the difference between a good unit and a bad one.

Now in terms of military membership in 2000, I suspect that most guys have come to regard themselves as professional combatants whatever path brought them into military service. By 2000, being in a military unit may mean danger on one hand, but on the other it also means knowing where your next meal comes from (or at least having a better idea where its coming from), not being prey for marauders and bandits, etc. Some soldiers in ex-pat units may have fantasies about how things aren't as bad in the US or UK or wherever they came from compared to continental Europe, Iran, etc., and may want nothing more than to get home, but even the most ardent dreamers probably realize on an intellectual level that reality won't measure up to the dream.

This is one of the flaws in the later stages of the T2K timeline, in my opinion, with Going Home/Howling Wilderness positing the idea that MilGov is going to demobilize tens of thousands of troops in Virginia. First of all, I suspect that most of those troops would be willing to remain in service when they grasp how trashed the US is. Second, MilGov needs troops. Third, dumping tens of thousands of troops with personal weapons and no plans for resettlement, relocation, etc., is like an ideal plan to destroy the Virginia/Carolinas/Maryland area, as if someone sat down and tried to dream up a plan for unleashing hungry marauders on that part of the country. I suppose that's on par with some other high level dumb moves made by the US .gov and .mil, but it's still pretty mind boggling.