Officer Retention

[Jimbo]

There are othe YG's that are even more irked about this than others.

Tom: You ain't living in Louisiana unless you are living south of I-10!

Some thoughts from my foxhole:

I agree with both RTK and adapt&overcome

RTK is correct in defining what you need to focus on when training new LT's.

A&O identified some very important shortcomings that have been the norm in the Army Officer Corps for a few years. Which I will address in my Texan manner of 'write'n, read'n, and numbers (we ain't ranked low in education for no reason)

Write'n
One of the great shortcomings in the Army is our inability to express ourselves in writing and speaking with langauge that resonates with policy makers. I was told this by one G.O. before he sent me on a tasker, and I have to agree with his assessment. As we advance, we have to understand that we are no longer just having to give "rally the troops" speeches. A retired G.O. reiterated this to a group of us earlier this week. While "the Army Writing Style" is important in training young cadets/officers in how to write effectively for military audiences, this writing style does little to showcase the breadth of intellectual talent that resides in the Army to outsiders. We need to up our game.

Read'n
We need to look beyond the CSA's reading list. It at best is a minimum, and some of those books have been on there for 17 years. Do young LT's need to be well versed in Clausewitz, Sun Tzu, Fuller, Liddell-Hart and such? No. Should they begin to be exposed to these guys? By all means yes. I would also argue that if you are going to be PL then read Platoon Leader, and learn how to write an Operations Order, and just as importantly how to understand what you are told to do in Operations Order. I would also say that we as military professionals should probably read some basic stuff on political science and international relations since both have a direct impact on us, and as leaders we have to be able to explain why we are doing what we are to our soldiers, and at times to our fellow Americans. So we should read, and we should read more than the CSA list.

Math(That would be arithmetic for you yankees(I had to look it up))
Bottom line:
30 rds in a mag, 12 MRE's in a box, 1,000 meters in a click, 2 teams in a squad, 4 tracks in a platoon, 14 tracks in a company, and stay a click away from anything that goes "boom" if at all possible.

There have been some articles written on the "anit-intellectualism" of the Army in the 1990's. I tend to agree with these assessments of the Army at that time. As a company grade officer I was told focus on executing, not thinking. It was all about execution. This is a discussion that comes up often among my peers, and this was the experience for about 80% of us. These options of grad school and language school were unheard of and discouraged if you wanted to be an "operations" guy. I think the institution is changing (probably) for the better, those of you who have these options take good advantage of them.

[Rob Thornton]

Several articles out there today regarding pursuing end strength increases faster. Army and DoD leadership seem to agree on the need and the time line. What I found most heartening is that there is now mention of approaching retention with an understanding of the effects of both families and other opportunities. Extending things like educational benefits to families will help create a more inclusive culture - our families share the risks, and pressures and weigh heavily on decisions to stay or leave. Acknowledging that makes good sense - our families and service members offer a different kind of recruiting tool - they recruit and retain by both the silent influence they exhibit when considered by family and friends (in terms of how well the Army takes care of them) and they recruit and retain overtly by the strength of their association with the Army as the organization or family which provides opportunity for their spouse and family.

Which brings me to recruiting - my opinion is that we have often tried to compete with the Navy, Marines and Air Force on the terms of what makes each service special. When you look across the Army I'm not sure that is reflective of our strongest attribute (all our services have qualities that attract and recruit new service members). The Army is big, and it is diverse - we should consider that as a strength. We should market that as opportunity - because the Army is so big, and so diverse it constantly has needs that translate to opportunities - if you want to do something else within the Army - it can probably accommodate you. Within the Army are more specialized communities for those who are looking for that specifically.

Fortunately we are also now considering how to extend this diversity with education and opportunities outside the "uniformed" community. This is also in line with fostering leadership qualities harder to cultivate from an "inside only" perspective.

The Army is huge in terms of branches, functional areas, MOSs, etc. It is reflected in its ability to campaign and bring all the other "stuff" needed to sustain and build long term infrastructure.

We need to bring that picture of diversity and opportunity forward in our recruiting and discuss it with the leaders we want to retain. Big Army seems to understand the problem now and seems to be moving toward applying a broad strategy with resources toward managing the problem ( this is not one of those problems with a fire and forget solution - it must be constantly managed).

Best Regards, Rob

[Steve Blair]

There was a joke/truism/whatever going around in the early 1980s that actually gets close to this.

If you wanted to live in the same place for years and raise a family, join the Air Force.

If you wanted to travel (lots) and go to strange foreign places, join the Navy.

If you wanted to kill people, join the Marines.

If you weren't sure what you wanted to do, join the Army.

Now before any noses get out of joint, remember that this was a joke that was circulating in the military dependent community in the early 1980s, but I do think that like many of these things there is a grain of truth in it. At that time, and today to a degree, the Air Force is still the most stable in terms of deployment cycles and demands. The Navy still goes to a wide number of places. The Marines...well...they still do Marine things (and the kill people comment always referred to the fact that in terms of perception the Marines were giving you the chance to be a warrior, not save money for college). And the Army was big enough that it gave you the space and options to figure out what you wanted to do.

[Rob Thornton]

Why not combine aspects of our recruiting and retention campaigns?

We have stories to tell that matter. Many of our recruiting strategies have shied away from dealing with combat, but they are in fact the ones that matter the most. We have real heroes out there do and inspire extraordinary things.

They are across the spectrum in our Combat Arms, Combat Support , and Combat Service Support communities. We can show the combat patrols that go out, Civil Affairs influencing people, Intelligence soldiers providing critical analysis, Logisticians moving mountains to the people who need them, JAG personnel upholding morals and ethics, Surgical Teams and medics saving lives and limbs, MPs & Advisors working with indigenous forces, Helicopter crews working in dangerous and forbidding places, soldiers enabling civil authorities here in the United States, Leaders working across the Joint, Coalition and Inter-Agency spectrum to accomplish national security objectives.

We have a story to tell about who we are – and why it matters. We have the most challenging conditions to highlight what our people are capable of accomplishing.

We should tell these stories across the broad spectrum of the media- T.V., print, radio, the Internet, etc.
Best Regards, Rob

[Cavguy]

We have stories to tell that matter. Many of our recruiting strategies have shied away from dealing with combat, but they are in fact the ones that matter the most. We have real heroes out there do and inspire extraordinary things.

They are across the spectrum in our Combat Arms, Combat Support , and Combat Service Support communities.

Well said. I loved the new "Army Strong" ad campaign at first - thought it finally got to the heart of soldiering based off of the debut ad. Now every ad I see (in the middle of a war) depicts some guy in kevlar troubleshooting a router in a basement somewhere, or filing paperwork. WTF? Really soured me on the campaign. I understand the need to communicate that the Army has more jobs than combat arms, but it's almost silly in how it ignores - and could embrace - the conflict in Iraq and what soldiers can do there. I also think it detracts from the message credibility when the fact that probably 90% of new recruits will deploy to Iraq in their first years of service, yet the ad campaign (other than the original) doesn't acknowledge this at all.

[Ken White]

forgotten what Joe is like and read the WaPo, NYT and WSJ. They think Mr. & Mrs. America are worried about body bags. They aren't; they just want the job done quickly and correctly.

They also may -- just may -- be cuing in on the fact that the CSS area is suffering in both enlistments and reenlistments. That's true while the Combat arms are bringing in first termers and reups out the ying yang. My suspicion is that they do not know that latter fact and are concentrating on the soft skills to avoid "turning off the kids (while the blood thirsty little gits do not care!) and their parents (some, not many, of whom may care)."

There are about 20% of kids who want to go combat arms and will no matter what's going on and that applies to enlisted and officer accessions. Give 'em a job where they get to shoot at something that shoots back and holler a bit and they'll stay. Put 'em on the range or in the motor pool too often and they'll leave.

Most people, again, officer and enlisted, leave because they're disappointed.

P.S. Cavguy, you get my update on LTG Lee?

[jcustis]

Why not combine aspects of our recruiting and retention campaigns?

We have stories to tell that matter. Many of our recruiting strategies have shied away from dealing with combat, but they are in fact the ones that matter the most. We have real heroes out there do and inspire extraordinary things.

They are across the spectrum in our Combat Arms, Combat Support , and Combat Service Support communities. We can show the combat patrols that go out, Civil Affairs influencing people, Intelligence soldiers providing critical analysis, Logisticians moving mountains to the people who need them, JAG personnel upholding morals and ethics, Surgical Teams and medics saving lives and limbs, MPs & Advisors working with indigenous forces, Helicopter crews working in dangerous and forbidding places, soldiers enabling civil authorities here in the United States, Leaders working across the Joint, Coalition and Inter-Agency spectrum to accomplish national security objectives.

We have a story to tell about who we are – and why it matters. We have the most challenging conditions to highlight what our people are capable of accomplishing.

We should tell these stories across the broad spectrum of the media- T.V., print, radio, the Internet, etc.
Best Regards, Rob

You're absolutely right Rob, and ever since I saw this compilation, I thought we should have something similar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaSwV...elated&search=

Perhaps the services need a few new "Top Gun" movies with recruiters standing by in the lobbies on premier day.

[RTK]

You're absolutely right Rob, and ever since I saw this compilation, I thought we should have something similar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaSwV...elated&search=

Perhaps the services need a few new "Top Gun" movies with recruiters standing by in the lobbies on premier day.

Maybe even this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pHsZqqZ2XE

[mmx1]

You're absolutely right Rob, and ever since I saw this compilation, I thought we should have something similar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaSwV...elated&search=

Perhaps the services need a few new "Top Gun" movies with recruiters standing by in the lobbies on premier day.

I could have done without the rock remix. I thought the originals were quite well done (though not quite along the lines of the current conversation about diversity of jobs).
Mechanized Infantry
Light Infantry
Air Assault Infantry
Armoured Infantry

As far as diversity, you've got this from the Irish:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbOQgqK1TBc

[Rob Thornton]

From CavGuy;

Well said. I loved the new "Army Strong" ad campaign at first - thought it finally got to the heart of soldiering based off of the debut ad. Now every ad I see (in the middle of a war) depicts some guy in kevlar troubleshooting a router in a basement somewhere, or filing paperwork. WTF? Really soured me on the campaign. I understand the need to communicate that the Army has more jobs than combat arms, but it's almost silly in how it ignores - and could embrace - the conflict in Iraq and what soldiers can do there. I also think it detracts from the message credibility when the fact that probably 90% of new recruits will deploy to Iraq in their first years of service, yet the ad campaign (other than the original) doesn't acknowledge this at all.

Those 2 points you brought out are what really bothers me - first because it seems to ignore the heroic deeds done by folks (and they are across the CA/CS/CSS spectrum) in these wars and in support of them (in many cases even those lines are blurred) and second because the reality is we are at war - I want the folks who we are recruiting and retaining to see that although we are at war, we are surrounded by the most amazing volunteer soldiers around. I want parent to know what lengths buddies & leaders will go to to ensure that their sons and daughters will come home and will be taken care of. I also want the general public to hear and see the incredible stories that the media skips over in favor of death tolls, figures spent and the 15 second sound byte and images of carnage and destruction devoid of the context where soldiers fought for each other and what they believed in - we cannot entrust that to anyone but us - nor should we.

On an AUG 23rd speech at the National Press Club on C-Span - GEN Casey spoke about a SGT who he recently awarded the Silver Star to for heroism and bravery during a riverine patrol - this SGT took over a gun on the boat from an IP (probably a PKC - but he did not say) and returned fire to suppress the enemy ambush on the banks - the craft could not get through so they beached it on a bank and then took cover in a depression - the patrol leader told the SGT to find a way out - so the SGT left the cover of the position went up the steep bank of the river and ran smack into a heavy chain link fence. He proceeded to cut the fence and found it electrified - while under fire and receiving electric jolts through his body this NCO cut his way through the fence. He brought the patrol up and when one of the soldiers got caught in the hole he went back and with the gloves melted to his hands and under fire - cut his buddy out of the fence.

This type of bravery - the commitment to save a fellow soldier or innocent at the penalty of their own life happens far more often in Afghanistan and Iraq then we know - there are multitudes of other compelling stories about sacrifice just short of life and death - but sacrifice those hear should hear about.

If we want people to know who we are - then we should tell and show them. If we want people who can "Be, Know, Do" then we need to show them who to emulate. Not only do we need to know who our heroes and heroines are, the public needs to know - and in a big way.

I can think of know better way to convince people to serve then to show them it is possible to become more then a person ever thought possible through service to their fellow man and country.

Best regards, Rob

[jcustis]

I could have done without the rock remix. I thought the originals were quite well done (though not quite along the lines of the current conversation about diversity of jobs).
Mechanized Infantry
Light Infantry
Air Assault Infantry
Armoured Infantry

As far as diversity, you've got this from the Irish:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbOQgqK1TBc

That Irish one simply kicked butt. A little bit of hittin' and rollin', some stuff getting blown up...all triggers that engaged a young lad's prima lurges. Who doesn't like that?

EDITED: I'm on a Youtube kick tonight. Unfortunately, we also have to contend with asshattery like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BFNK...ting%20America