Pentagon Leaders Looking to Make a Culture Shift Within the Military

[Sanguine]

The Fayetteville Observer, N.C. 28 Dec 2017 By Drew Brooks

A top Pentagon official believes the U.S. military is moving closer to a new way of doing business that would allow troops and families to stay at installations like Fort Bragg for longer periods of time.

Robert Wilkie, who was sworn in as undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness in late November, said he believes the military's current way of doing business is outdated and detrimental to families and the retention of troops.

He was critical of both the constant movement that has become a trademark of military families and the "up or out" career trajectories of the services, which he said needlessly boots troops who can still contribute to the nation's warfighting efforts....

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/12/28/pentagon-leaders-looking-make-culture-shift-within-military.html?ESRC=eb_171228.nl

Could be a good thing.

[driftdiver]

Works great if you like where they put you.

[Joe Wooten]

Works great if you like where they put you.

Yeah, not so good if they decide Diego Garcia is your permanent base......

[Sanguine]

Yeah, not so good if they decide Diego Garcia is your permanent base......

That wasn't one on the list in the article.  Do they even allow families there?

[driftdiver]

Heck back in early 90s i came off 3 remote tours back to back and ended up at Cheyenne mountain.  Guys there had spent 12 years there.   Never had a remote or any other base.   

They tried sending me over on some tactical rotations I  the sand.   Their politics and lack of focus on the mission was laughable.

[thackney]

Yeah, not so good if they decide Diego Garcia is your permanent base......

I know some folks that stayed at Shemya Air Force Base.  Being US based isn't always a benefit.

[SZonian]

"Up or out" or high year of tenure as we called it, is designed to prevent stagnation in the lower ranks, ie, not being promoted.  In the E-4 to E-6 range, it gets those who can't test well instead of being able to perform.  In the E-7 to E-8 range, it gets those who aren't viewed favorably in the promotion boards as "the top 1%". 

The promotion system in the AF is "weighted" with numerous factors brought to bear; performance reports, medals, written tests on your skill set and general AF knowledge. 

Up or out has its place, but I think we lose a lot more the of high caliber performers, not chaff (E-7 to E-9 or O-7 to O-10) as a result of it. 

I think they'll protect the upper ranks and leave things in place for those who actually perform the mission.  JMO