I would like to start out by saying I believe in the officer corps. I still believe in the Army. We (the Army and officers) get a lot of bad press both from the outside and ourselves. We like to point out what’s wrong with the system, but not many are willing to stick around to fix things. And I think that is, in actuality, the biggest problem right now.
I’m an optimist and an altruist. I know I personally got into this job because of the hooah-hooah jump out of helicopters stuff, and because of the prestigious legacy of the services. Even in the modern era of persistent conflict, eight years into two wars, the general public still looks at military officers as the country’s most honorable and professional individuals. Sure, on paper we may not represent the true creme de la creme. But there is something to be said about some brains, a little brawn, and a healthy dose of enough patriotism to throw in your lot and do your part, to call us some of the best individuals America has to count on. Numbers alone tell more lies than truths.
But unfortunately, like any job, one must start at the bottom and work his way up.
Like me writing this at 0253 HRS while on a tiring staff duty shift. No one joins the Army to pull staff duty. No one joins the Army to write counselings, work on chapter packets even on your block leave, or to be separated from your friends and family for months at a time. At some point we all recognized we had something more to give than ourselves, and inspired by the war stories of our predecessors we raised our hands for whatever the task.
If you wanted to branch infantry and the Army Gods decided you were going to be field artillery, what do you do? Quit? Did you join the Army with any preconditions? I try to tell myself I didn’t. It doesn’t always work. If you raised your hand to volunteer and the Army decided it needed you most in the supply room, take it with a grain of salt. Only a small fraction can jump out of helicopters and kick down doors. But no one can jump out of helicopters before that LZ is prepped, and that chalk is loaded with beans and bullets.
Usually when I talk to lieutenants choosing to leave the Army before making captain, or as a junior captain, it definitely is because of many of the issues mentioned in the Strategic Studies paper (job satisfaction, not meeting job expectations or opportunities, etc). But I just can’t help but think at some point near the field grade things really start paying off. I can’t help thinking that the only ones willing to find that out are some of those less desirable candidates who can’t separate from the military because they lack the motivation to leave or the skills to leave an institutionalized career.
The Army is trying to entice us with “just stick it out!” and we promise things will get better. It truly is a hard sell.
We are all blanketed in the glory of the Washingtons, Shermans, Pattons and Moores. But this glory does extend to our era in the Powells, McChrystals, Patreas’s and…Stenzels. I believe junior officers feel too detatched from these echelons, so it’s hard to think that what we do now could one day lead to command at that level or careers of that significance. Most of the stars we look up to either never saw “combat” until they commanded a corps, or still haven’t seen “combat.” In todays’ Army we consider anyone with a fuzzy right sleeve not worth the nylon his name tape is printed with. No one really writes books about how amazing their lieutenant years were if they’ve made it past captain. And lately the draw from the civilian sector, these loosening standards for admission into the officer corps, and the less kinetic battlefields discourage retention in a generation that needs quick satisfaction.
Most of the lieutenants I talk to who plan on staying in for at least the foreseeable future don’t have much introspection or high ambition. The talk is mostly of punching in the hours, minimizing the impact of the next deployment, and securing school dates to relax from OP Tempo. I haven’t decided if this is good or not, or whether it even means anything. But I would at least think that some of the great field grades and generals in the past tried to plan for the future, even as lieutenants. I don’t believe that officers accidentally end up with PhD’s and Pentagon jobs. That takes more than punching the clock.
For me the draw to see what’s on the other side of the lieutenant hill is just too great. I can see myself trying to do different jobs in intel or civil affairs, or even artillery (fires, as we like to call it these days). I think we always hear about the jobs we’d like to do, but many of us never meet the people who either have done it or can tell us how to get into it. This is probably another problem with the system, that of the branch managers as the gate keepers. Perhaps there needs to be a more fluid communication system between real, working field grades and junior officers. Like a facebook or LinkedIn where random communication and job recommendations is encouraged. Ha!
I know my experiences thus far have not been what I expected. We are trained in ROTC to have a platoon of cadet-competent “Soldiers” who think like us, do PT for fun and we WILL take the hill! Our pre-job training is focused on Soldiering ourselves up and learning tactics. Our on-the-job experiences teach us logistics and how to apply the grease that gets the Army machine to the fight foremost, then we’ll worry about making the PowerPoint for the OPORD to cordon the village.
I know there are also legitimate circumstances that make some of us want, or need, to leave the military when our time is up. I also strongly believe that anyone who has done their time has already done more than they were asked. There is a reason LTC’s will regularly thank soldiers and junior officers for their service.
I personally refuse to let this discourage my outlook. Perhaps something better in the future will present itself. I still don’t plan on making this a 20-year career. But I can see myself putting in a few more than my three-year contract if not only to see what else the Army can do for me, but what I can do for the Army.
~Spartz
"Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strength. When you go through hardship and decide not to surrender, that is strength."
-Arnold Schwarzenegger