How do you address any challenges with getting young soldiers involved and having pride in your unit?

Welcome to life. Some will get it and some never will. Just keep on trying. You’ll probably never know when it will finally click for some.

The best way is to Sign your soldiers up for all the programs thats how I got to do everything in the Military once a soldier get taste of fun or history of the programs they will sogn themselves up

They probably received “Participation Ribbons in school. That is ruining our young people, so NO one will get their tender feelings hurt

Here's the thing, it's not about doing activities outside of work. It's these activities coming down last minute when you already made plans. Getting info 24 hours prior is something I'm sure all command teams need to do a better job on.

History can really help. Let them understand that they are a part of a mission bigger than themselves and with a history of achievement.

I have about the same time and this is a true story. The army has changed so much since the war began but, treating them like they are more than a number is a good start

I had a battalion officer threatening the soldiers (all but HQ and support company) with article 15 for not showing up for a Thanksgiving "fun day until one of the line co. Commanders informed him thet aviation personnel was actually working all day long. Way to show you care about your soldiers, lol.

Very simple sir, if you take care of your soldiers they will take care of you! You have to find out what they care about and that is their personal time. For example, if you tell your soldiers everyday, "lets shoot for 1530 to be out of here today" watch how hard they work to get it done by 1430. But it doesnt stop there, honor your word and when it comes time for long hours, you never have to worry about your soldiers complaining.

As many have stated, unit history is the basis of unit pride amongst troops. Inculcate them into the fact that they are the present part of the units history that future generations will emulate. Old Soldiers love to tell tales of the units they were in, especially the good ones where they trained hard in the field, worked hard in garrison and partied harder when they were off duty. Where the officers and NCOs actually knew their troops and treated them as family and valuable assets.
In my own experiences one of the best units I ever served in was an itty bitty little dental detachment at Fort Bragg whose history started in WWII as a medical gas detachment. One of our 1SGs served in the unit while it was in Vietnam and our CO had each of us feeling that if we slacked off, the whole Army would suffer as a result. It was one of those units that had folks willing to low crawl across broken glass in the middle of hell while dressed in a gasoline suit.

Your soldiers have priorities and some of them are well outside of the army. My suggestion is focus on making it clear that you understand their priorities. Then follow it up by focusing on team work and team based events not mandatory fun stuff but make morning PT and PT evaluations competition and team based granting the winning teams long weekends or better details or something. Making training exercises focus in challenging yet fun things obsticals courses, team events, etc.

The two biggest killers or moral and lacking team spirit, is apathetic or worse yet toxic leadership.

You don't have to be their friend but I'd you soldiers think you don't care at all about their families or whatever their other priorities are then they will see you as nothing more then another leader who just doesn't care. That's just my perspective from my time as a lower enlisted. I hope it helps and good luck.