Americas Defense Meltdown - IT Acquisition Advisory Council

Col. G.I. Wilson & Maj. Donald Vandergriff • 63policies around a personnel system developed for mass mobilization, OPMS canbecome more than a short-term fix that will soon become another of the series ofevolutionary fixes. Instead, OPMS might best be viewed as a bridge to more and betterreforms in the near future. The Army will eventually create its own military versionof a new, flatter organization with the inherent officer personnel policies revolvingaround the unit policies that must accompany it. As a result, the Army will reintroduceprofessionalism to its officer corps.Professionalism: Thriving on ChangeThe current war is forcing the Army and the other services to examine a new doctrinethat emphasizes increased responsibility for lower ranks. At the same time, the Armymust struggle with embracing and integrating new technology through the FutureCombat Systems (FCS). The Army, therefore, has no choice but to be bold and createa new institutional culture. This new culture will create, nurture and promotehuman resource leaders who thrive on change in general and, in particular, on theincreased demands that doctrine writers are advocating and, most importantly, thefuture challenges our foes create.This is a different culture from the one we have now. We cannot continue to writeglowing documents advocating adaptability, yet subtly support peacetime politically correctpractices that shore up bureaucratic qualities rather than combat leadership qualities.Unfortunately, when leaders come up for promotion and selection, the out-of-date systemtoo often selects out the most creative and dynamic of leaders and subordinates.To prepare leaders for the Army in the 21st century, we must:• Continue to replace the individual personnel system with a unit personnelsystem. Revolve all personnel policies around a modular, unit-based systemand move to an Army force structure that can be supported by a unit replacementsystem.• Eliminate the up-or-out promotion system and replace it with an up-or-staypromotion system using tougher accessions.• Replace the specific branches such as Armor, Field Artillery, Infantry, Aviation,Quartermaster, Transportation, etc., and place officers on a track or categorysystem at the captain (O-3) or major (O-4) level. Retain NCOs in their branchesuntil they reach master sergeant or first sergeant (E-8). Make personnel managementmore flexible by setting up a database system that lists a person’sattributes and traits in order to put that person in the place where they bestcan serve the Army and nation.