Making tomorrows Military today: Getting a little pissed, part 2

Getting a little pissed, part 2

My post below has taken on a life of its on.

Enough of a life that I decided to take on some extra things that have come up in the comment section.

The question that I posed that is causing the commotion is: How do you get the top quality High Schoolers to enter the enlisted military.

My first thought was to afford more officer programs to the enlisted. The problem is that you cannot just throw more officers into the fray. It makes too many chiefs and not enough indians, even though that is not a politically correct saying anymore. But you get my drift.

Second was to remove "outside" recruiting for ROTC units. This could work, but it has downfalls. Guy at Snugg Harbor has a great point about Mustangs (officers who were enlisted prior to getting their commission). "I can not recall having met or served with any who were anything less then outstanding." It is very true. Why is that? For one, they are already proven military leaders. If you are selected for an Officer program from the enlisted ranks, your Commanding Officer and 2 other officers have to recommend you, and you have to show your ability through evaluations, advancement potential, etc. This then fills the officer corps with the finest people, field tested and proven.

If you cut out the ability of seniors in High School to apply for ROTC, yes some will go to college, but the ones that want to be officers in the military will go enlisted because they know that they can be officers only that way. If you cannot get into the service academy, then you have to go into an enlisted commissioning program.

The last pro is that more than likely, the mustang officers would then stay in longer, give up their commissions less and cost the military less, because they would not have to replace as many officers over the years.

To the Cons: You could end up with an "inbred" organization. This inbreeding is the result of not getting "fresh meat" from outside sources. The thought process behind that is a little flawed as I see it, but it is still a con. IF you do not bring in officers from other worlds outside of the military, you can end up with officers that only think inside the box. Inside of the box thinking is never good, but if you are an outside of the box thinker in the military, you are considered a Maverick. (and there is no Goose to back you up) So you have to have shakers in the military. Only once in a blue moon do the shakers ever make it to the positions that shaking actually make any difference, but I digress.

So how, nationally, do we get that kid? We already have incentive programs that are great. 12,000 bonuses for most advanced programs, 20k for special operations. Faster advancement potential, advanced paygrades, college credits for most programs, and usually if you are in demand in the military, you are in demand outside of the military, which means better jobs post-military.

Duty. Honor. Courage. Respect. Loyalty. Integrity. Commitment. Service. Excellence.

That will only get the kids in the door that need our core values.

Militantpundit posted @ 8:52 PM

|| Permanent Link || Comments (3)

Interesting...you been thinkin hard on it!

Posted by loboinok @ 9:29 AM, May 27, 2005

Here Here. Awesome post. I think that kids today need more encouragement to develope core values.

The Navy used to teach us that Honor, Courage and commitment. I try to teach that to my kids.

Keep up the good work.

Posted by Vulture 6 @ 8:40 PM, May 27, 2005

I have served with a few prior service officers that completely sucked. Made me question the whole recommended by other officers thing. Remember, you get that 10% everywhere.

Also, the Army has been doing pretty good with the 3 main commissioning sources so far (West Point, ROTC, OCS) so why do we need a major shake up there? I think the focus should shift to talking to more people that would meet the qualifications we want: college kids. Some will go OCS/ROTC but plenty more will enlist if they know the programs and benefits. USAREC needs to stop accepting anybody and take people actually able to articulate the programs/benefits in a way that college students can relate to.

My 2 cents.

Posted by JACK ARMY @ 10:55 AM, May 28, 2005