PMCs: What is the media missing?

[Ken White]

Hi Tom,
. . .

Now one of the characteristics of EM systems is that loyalty tends to be personalized - it is to individuals (including yourself, family, friends, network, etc.) and not to abstract institutions. This type of relationship is dominant in the Gen Y'ers (<30) who form the bulk of current junior service members, amongst whom "consulting" does not mean "unemployed" but, rather, has connotations of "freedom" and a balance between work and life. Most Gen Y'ers are also quite aware that hey need requisite training in order to pursue this type of life, and look towards the education system, loosely construed, to provide it. We can see it in the attitude of students at universities and colleges today and also, I suspect, in the attitudes of many junior officers and enlisted.

In this type of social environment, it is, to my mind, inevitable that we would see a rise in the PMC market, with the emphasis on the "consulting" angle. Anyway, that's my 2 cents .

Marc

Good post and I think you're correct. It was a an inevitable move in many respects, not least those you cite and the $$$. We didn't do it well but I think it'll get sorted and fixed.

[marct]

Hi Ken,

Good post and I think you're correct. It was a an inevitable move in many respects, not least those you cite and the $$$. We didn't do it well but I think it'll get sorted and fixed.

Thanks . I did my dissertation on this topic but aimed at the creation and spread of the career counselling industry - then I worked in it as a consultant for 3 years (along with teaching and web design) after I got my PhD. . I've been watching the dominoes fall in industry after industry, so seeing it happen in the military isn't a stretch at all. Actually, I first noticed it in the USAF when my brother-in-law was talking about the RIFs going on in the 1990's.

There are some interesting corollaries as tactics and strategy are concerned, and I'm trying to plot them out now for a future paper.

Marc

[Ken White]

us.

My pet corollary was the one about the Railroads; "They never learned they were in the transportation business, they died thinking they were in the Railroad Business."

Substitute Airline or any number of nouns and verbs, including fighting smart instead of the (insert appropriate armed force) business...

[marct]

I'm still trying to design the paper at the moment, but I will definitely be sharing it with the SWC. I'll probably be posting a draft in the RFI section looking for advice, comments, criticisms and examples.

Marc