"Does the Army Need a Full-Spectrum Force or Specialized Units?

[Skullbiscuit]

.......that and jobs at HRC, a driver of more import than many know. Shy Meyer tried to kill the HRC Mafia and they trooped up on the Hill and they won; they outlasted Meyer and went right back to business as usual.

Yes HRC and the assignment officer, the latter I liken to a Vegas card dealer who plays you with a stacked deck. Only he knows what cards are in the deck, if he has all 52 he won't show them to you, unless you're a personal friend, or your a "hitter", or potential patron.

One thing most officers in the Army today don't realize is that their file at HRC has a classification on it; "A", "B", or "C". And that classification determines what quality of assignment the desk officer offers (he slides the card across the table) the officer.

The assignment game becomes like momentum stock speculating in the stock market; fundamentals (who you are today) matter far less than what investors (senior raters) have thought about you in the past. Thus the possibility of a breakout or a turn-around from a bad report (only mediocre report is needed to hurt you in an inflation prone profile scheme) becomes almost impossible.

Again it is HRC as broker --- essentially the "decider" of where you go and what you do. A black hole of politics without any transparency. No excuse for this. Especially in an era of real time online information. All assignments could be online and available for all to see 24/7; and even more heretical --- allow you to apply for them directly and go through an interview process with an impartial 3rd party --- cut the branch assignment officer and branch or functional area politics and strength management out. I could go on. But it is because of these and other practices from HRC that about ten years ago I started to refer to them as the true "Great Satan".

Revise the OER, open up assignments to a more competitive and dynamic pool of human capital outside of HRC's control; and to paraphrase Brando's Kurtz "our problems here would soon be over"

I retired last summer. I miss soldiering. I have nothing but contempt for OPMS. I could have stayed on but understanding how the personnel mgt system works, and knowing that the only thing meaningful to them at the end of the day is "do we have the bodies?". The only meaningful gesture for me was to deny the system my labor. The only time I have ever seen the beast wince and try to change is when it did not have the bodies it needed. And that "change" was wholly cosmetic and temporary --- the beast painted itself a new color and shouted "Look at us! ....we're kinder gentler now!" So short of a military catastrophe that threatens the nation OR the inability of the system to recruit and retain the numbers it needs ---- I am not as optimistic as you.....I see no pony in there.....only the same ole Army jack_ss

We "succeed" today because of our technological over match, wealth, training and institutional support is "good enough" to avert the recognizable spectacular headline grabbing defeat, and that those on the fence and not actively opposing us are willing to concede we mean well even though the giant bumbles and stumbles in the china shop. Had we a threat with deeper pocket books, better technology, and without the constraints of our personnel mgt system to systematically suffocate innovators and mavericks....things could be different.

And

......it is any threat to the institution; they will put aside branch and personal squabbles to repel boarders in a heartbeat. Still, most of 'em I've met, though constrained by the system they grew up in, generally mean well.

Yes but the road to Hades was paved with such intentions. An officer I knew back in the 90's put it to me succinctly when we were discussing the crisis in the Army at the time (on the Army Times a prominent O6 BDE CDR was profiled as leaving the Army because of the Army's identity crisis --- this was circa 98-99). This officer said to me not to expect the GO Corps to do anything substantive to change the Army. He said they are all "made men". I asked him why is it that these men allow their nuts to be chopped off in order to take the stars? He said; "you don't understand....they give them their nuts willingly"