April 3, 2015

Secretary of Defense Ash Carter traveled the East Coast this week to unveil his “Force of the Future” initiative. The initiative suggests changing the way the DoD recruits, promotes, and retains personnel, but offers few specifics or clear proposals.

According to Carter, about 250,000 new people need to enter the service every year for the military to keep up with recruiting goals. Currently, two-thirds of Americans aged 17-21 are ineligible from joining the service due to entry exam scores, physical fitness requirements, or character issues. In order to appeal to the reduced talent pool, Carter thinks changes are needed within the current structure of the force.

Carter wants to evaluate the promotion process.  He feels promotion boards should give less weight to seniority and place more emphasis on merit allowing the most talented people to move up in rank more quickly. He is also looking at the custom of entering the service at the lowest rank, and wants to consider options that will allow well-trained people, like in cybersecurity or the medical profession, to enter the service with a rank that would reflect their civilian experience and skillsets.

“If we're going to have a new generation we … can't offer them a conveyor belt that you get on and you don't move until you get off,” Carter said. “We're not going to be appealing if we do that, so we're going to need to change the way we think about things.”

One of Carter’s suggestions focuses on student loans, a major concern for many 17-21 year olds. Carter proposed the idea of a reverse G.I. Bill to pay off student loans for recruits. “As college loans get bigger and bigger, for people with certain skills, we need to look for ways to help pay off student loans for people who have already gone to college.”

Carter also wants to consider more flexible career paths for servicemembers that would allow some to take a sabbatical or leave from the active duty force for a period to do things like obtain a degree, acquire a new skill, or start a family.

Although specifics are scarce for Carter’s plan, MOAA is interested in how the bulk of the force will be impacted. The examples illustrated by Carter focus on niche, experienced groups.

“We’re concerned with how some of these initiatives are going to impact the vast majority of those currently serving,” said MOAA’s Deputy Director of Government Relations, Col. Mike Barron, USA (Ret). “Some of the proposals sound good in theory, but would be very difficult in practice.”