Retaining Quality Leaders for the Objective Force - Brief Article

MAJOR GENERAL TONEY STRICKLIN

Chief of Field Artillery

As the Army moves forward into this new century and proceeds with its very important transformation initiative, I would like to discuss some of my thoughts and perceptions on an interrelated and equally important topic. In order to succeed in transformation and guarantee our future success, the Army and the Field Artillery need committed, capable leaders and soldiers.

Junior Officer Retention. In 1999, our branch experienced the most difficult year in retaining junior officers. Termed "captain retention," the issue, in my opinion, is one of lieutenant retention. Although many leave the service at the rank of captain, their decisions were made while they were lieutenants--many of them making the decision while in their pre-commissioning phase before attending the officer basic course.

As the Field Artillery entered 2000, we had the highest captain attrition of any branch in the Army and exceeded the Army average by some two percentage points. We obviously are pleased that this year we have reversed the trend and decreased our attrition at a time when the Army average increased remarkably. Although our attrition rate remains marginally higher than the Army's average, we are moving in the right direction.

Even so, it is not time to declare victory and relax. In fact, it is even more important that we continue to address this problem and provide a solid foundation of leaders who will command our battalions in the years 2012 and beyond.

This is an Army problem that now has the attention of our most senior leadership. Unfortunately, we senior leaders were not quick to realize the true magnitude of the problem initially but now are working to better understand the sources of the retention problems. We are paying attention to the issue and are asking the difficult questions to determine why our junior officer leaders are leaving the service.

Sources of Retention Problems. A recent report published by the Strategic Studies Institute of the Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, concluded there are generational issues between our senior leaders and the young men and women who comprise our junior officer corps. The report is insightful as it identifies some of the cultural differences between the "Baby Boomer" generation that represents our lieutenant colonels and above and the so-called "Generation Xers" who are mainly the captains and below.

The study also notes that many of these problems actually are less pronounced in the Army because it tends to be a more homogenous institution than a private sector organization--meaning the Army shares a more common set of values and ideals largely derived through our adherence to Army values.

It is important to note that organizational culture is subject to continual change and that we, as an institution, should not expect to remain so rigid. One need only remember the "Brown Shoe" Army of the past or even the Army of World War II, the "Greatest Generation," that restored democracy to the world to see how our Army has changed.

Undoubtedly, the study's findings are true. But as I travel across the Army and discuss captain retention with leaders and young officers, the problem becomes clearer and less difficult to understand. In the eyes of our young officers, we senior leaders lack credibility--battalion commanders, division artillery (Div Arty)/FA brigade commanders and two-star commanders, including me.

Our captains and lieutenants are astute enough to discern the problems around them. They describe unit readiness concerns that result from personnel shortages, aging equipment, limited training opportunities, diminishing facilities and eroding dollars. They tell me issues that concern them: high operational tempo (OPTEMPO); deferred equipment services; unpredictability bred by constantly changing training schedules; short-notice, 179-day TDY taskings; and the major-captain-lieutenant-NCO intensive nature of Battle Command Training Program Warfighter exercises with little training value for the "pucksters." Then they ask me what the Army is doing to alleviate these issues. This calls into question whether or not we senior leaders are calculating these deficiencies into the readiness equation--in other words, our credibility is being questioned.

Restoring Senior Leader Credibility. My reply to these questions is to reassure them that their senior leaders are, in fact, aware and concerned with the issues they describe. One only needs to read the branch commandants' readiness comments that were leaked to the press a few months ago to understand that senior leaders are expressing their readiness concerns. But at the same time, I explain some of the factors that keep us from changing as quickly as we all would like.

We must restore the junior officers' confidence in their senior leaders--battalion commanders, Div Arty/FA brigade commanders and two-star commanders. At Fort Sill, our PreCommand Course for battalion and Div Arty/PA brigade commanders is addressing credible leadership head-on. From Day One, we address the importance of welcoming the new lieutenant and spouse to the battalion team and the importance of senior leaders being good listeners. (We have a tendency to get stuck in the transmit mode when we should be in receive.) We must take the time to mentor younger officers and demonstrate we are interested in their future, well being and concerns.

The course addresses realistic training expectations. Even though the commander may not be able to achieve all the unit's training needs, he must, more importantly, execute the training that is planned. In other words, the commander must make his training plan credible.

And, finally, we senior leaders must make the tough readiness calls.

Captain retention remains an issue we must continue to address. There are absolutely no concerns about the quality, integrity or loyalty of our junior officers. Clearly they are the most talented I've served with during my career. We senior leaders must, however, make time to give them the leadership they are calling for.

The Field Artillery branch is addressing this issue aggressively and responsibly. There is more work to do, and we have a plan.

My thanks to all Field Artillery senior leaders for helping make a noticeable difference in retention for the Field Artillery in the past year.

COPYRIGHT 2001 U.S. Field Artillery Association
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group