Army soldiers with the Wichita Recruiting Company hosted a recruitment booth at Hutchinson, Kansas on September 9, 2023. The soldiers hosted the booth at the Kansas State Fairgrounds to interact with the public and inform about enlistment opportunities and benefits. (Army Reserve photo by Pfc. Aiden Griffitts) The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.
By: FEDweek StaffWhile the Army should be buoyed by the success of retention efforts, concerns remain about the service’s ability to attract new talent, according to a white paper prepared for the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA).
Besides enhancement of recruiting, the paper recommended that the service allow soldiers to “homestead” at single installations rather than be ordered to move themselves and their families. Expansion of career opportunities beyond those now inherent to existing timelines also could have a positive effect.
The paper was prepared by Lt. Col. Amos C. Fox, a doctoral candidate at the University of Reading. He specifically focused on the Army’s recent re-introduction of the Be All You Can Be recruiting slogan of the 1980s, which played a significant role in replenishing manpower in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. The suggestions he offered are simply that, he wrote, but he made it clear that something needs to be done.
“It is worth noting that the Army needs individuals more than individuals necessarily need the Army,” Fox wrote. “unfortunately, all too often, the Army personnel system places this offering on its head.”
Fox also recommended that the emphasis on up-or-out could drive capable officers and non-commissioned officers out of the service. Instead, he wrote, more emphasis should be placed on ensuring that talented and trained soldiers that otherwise may be compelled to leave be able to continue their service.
Fox’s suggestion that homesteading would allow soldiers “to develop a better sense of belonging, to improve the opportunities to maintain a dual-income household, and to decrease the potential unhappiness regularly found in Army life.”
Concluding with a reference to former Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville’s observations that the Army is in a competition for talent and that winning is the ultimate goal, modifying the service’s promotion system “would help the Army overcome its attritional struggle for talent,” Fox wrote.
“At the end of the day,” Fox wrote, “the Army needs its people to be all they can be.”
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