T2K: State of the U.S. Army in the late Twilight War

[Legbreaker]

I agree wholeheartedly about the desertion issue as described by sglancy. I'd even go so far as to extend the arguement to cover Soviet troops in Poland - Home is a VERY long walk away through terrain absolutely crawling with marauders and rear eschelon units just waiting to pounce upon deserters.
At least staying with the military gives strength in numbers and the probability of food in the belly for the forseeable future.

[pmulcahy11b]

I'll agree with SGlancy here. When you are a part of a military unit, they become your family in a big way -- that unit becomes your home with an extended family (albeit, often dysfunctional) in it. In the face of World War 3, the survivors of that unit will draw even closer together when they are far away from the US and there's no immediate prospect of going home in sight.

In combat, your fellow soldiers' safety also often becomes more important to you than your own safety. Even in peacetime, letting your fellow soldiers down is really considered low. That too will draw the surviving troops closer together. It may even be what holds together units composed of different nationalities.

[Legbreaker]

Even conscripts are going to feel the sense of family. It might only be a sense all conscripts are in the same boat, but they will still feel it. This may go some way towards explaining why individual desertions from the PACT forces were fairly minimal while whole units disobeyed higher command and stuck together (at least initially until the supplies on hand ran out).