Rites of Passage and Group Bonding in he Canadian Airborne

Abstract

This article addresses the issue of primary group bonding and non-conventional methods for promoting unit cohesion. Conventional army training intensifies the power of group pressure within its ranks using methods that teach recruits the need for teamwork. Less conventional methods, such as initiation rites, are also used to promote group bonding. This report examines initiation rites in the Canadian Airborne Regiment, beginning with a brief description of the Regiment and then examining formal initiation to the regiment- the Airborne Indoctrination Course, informal initiation rites, Airborne initiation rites are discussed in detail by using models developed in anthropology to describe rites of passage in traditional societies, rites that occur in three stages, the first occurring when the initiates' former identity is stripped away and they are set apart and made very similar to one another. They are then "leveled" into a homogeneous group, by suppressing individuality, and thus encouraging an investment in the group. They then enter the liminal phase of the rite, where events become parodies and inversions of real life, a stage in which group bonding is reinforced as the initiates undergo standard processes of testing and humiliation. Finally, they are reincorporated into the group as members of the regiment. We then look at hazing and other rites of passage in the Canadian Airborne Regiment, and conclude with a discussion of the use of extreme initiation in primary group bonding.