ABSTRACT
British Army servicemen use alcohol to define individual status and group identity and to construct the characteristic hegemonic military masculinity that is seen as the ideal soldier type. Army drinking rituals serve to consolidate social bonds, to service debts, to provide rewards and gifts, to self-medicate against depression, and to reinforce the values thought necessary for a good soldier to embody: aggression, strength, manliness, courage, good humor, sociability, and trustworthiness. Grooming and other group actions have an undeniable physiological component: a trigger to the reward system. In the context of group drinking rituals, the propensity can trigger a powerful bonding response. A chimpanzee will usually come to the rescue of another who is making a distress call. But R. Dunbar reports that they will do so far more quickly and consistently if the two chimps have been recent grooming partners. The chapter provides the reader the bulk of conclusions and just skip straight to the gory bits.
