if you arent wiling to sacrifice your family for the needs of the service, maybe you arent the person we need in charge of other people who are told to make the same decision and for a lot less pay and freedom. Officer careers are pretty cushy compared to all the other poor saps who have to suck it up., and the retirement benefits and second careers in guaranteed jobs in the civilian warmachine make it all a little more bearable. The family sacrifices service members are asked to make are blown out of proportion and romanticized compared tot he family pressures taxpayers make, except for the occasional casualty of war. But really, that mostly falls on the poor low skilled infantrymen, who are soon to be replaced by the robots. So this problem goes away pretty soon.
Hey honestly you're relating the majority view here when you say, essentially, if we wanted you to have a family we'd have issued you one. My view in the article is the minority one. But if what you say should be policy, let the Army write it down as policy. Instead they pretend to care about retention while not actually caring enough about it for actions to follow, which is deeply cynical. And no, I don't agree tempo and pressure on family are anywhere near the same on the outside, having worked in private enterprise for a decade now. Pressure, yes ... but not even in the same ballpark for the vast majority of families.
TC, I admire your perseverance in coming back to this issue after so much time has elapsed. I for one do not foresee change here. I don’t think ‘they’ (I know it’s amorphous, that’s partially the point) are capable of change...too many interests are vested in maintaining the status quo, and more importantly, those who could change things have zero incentive to do so. I hope I’m wrong, but I watched it for 23 years while I was in, and another 11+ from the outside, and I’m unfortunately more than doubtful.
I'm not sure the military services actually want to retain elite-level talent. It is said in doctrine, but the actions have seldom followed. This should worry us since our defense rides on the ability of leaders to inspire and motivate at scale. But it's honestly the minority view.
if you arent wiling to sacrifice your family for the needs of the service, maybe you arent the person we need in charge of other people who are told to make the same decision and for a lot less pay and freedom. Officer careers are pretty cushy compared to all the other poor saps who have to suck it up., and the retirement benefits and second careers in guaranteed jobs in the civilian warmachine make it all a little more bearable. The family sacrifices service members are asked to make are blown out of proportion and romanticized compared tot he family pressures taxpayers make, except for the occasional casualty of war. But really, that mostly falls on the poor low skilled infantrymen, who are soon to be replaced by the robots. So this problem goes away pretty soon.
Hey honestly you're relating the majority view here when you say, essentially, if we wanted you to have a family we'd have issued you one. My view in the article is the minority one. But if what you say should be policy, let the Army write it down as policy. Instead they pretend to care about retention while not actually caring enough about it for actions to follow, which is deeply cynical. And no, I don't agree tempo and pressure on family are anywhere near the same on the outside, having worked in private enterprise for a decade now. Pressure, yes ... but not even in the same ballpark for the vast majority of families.
TC, I admire your perseverance in coming back to this issue after so much time has elapsed. I for one do not foresee change here. I don’t think ‘they’ (I know it’s amorphous, that’s partially the point) are capable of change...too many interests are vested in maintaining the status quo, and more importantly, those who could change things have zero incentive to do so. I hope I’m wrong, but I watched it for 23 years while I was in, and another 11+ from the outside, and I’m unfortunately more than doubtful.
I'm not sure the military services actually want to retain elite-level talent. It is said in doctrine, but the actions have seldom followed. This should worry us since our defense rides on the ability of leaders to inspire and motivate at scale. But it's honestly the minority view.