Posted on Mar 18, 2014
Are we losing the best young officers after 13 years of war?
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I have seen a recent trend in some units. The best of the junior lieutenants are choosing to leave the service. In my Squadron alone, the top 3 lieutenants have all dropped a UQR. I of course begin to question if it is some lack in my leadership that is causing this, so I ask the forum...is there a trend? Some of the officers have cited that they joined to go to war and that now that there is no longer a mission, no longer a war to fight, that garrison isn't what they wanted. How do we as an institution pass on the knowledge that a military isn't just for war, and mostly it's for the prevention of war? Or...is this just the natural order of things? Of the LT's in my first Battalion, there are only 3 of us left.
Retention
Values
Talent Management
Posted 12 y ago
Responses: 12
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I remember after Desert Storm ended, there was Mass Exit of all ranks. I think this is the natural ebb and tide of the military after a conflict...and Desert Storm was nowhere near as long, dangerous, or suffered as much loss as either of the 2 most current encounters. It is tough to loose the best....I would encourage a 'mandatory' outbrief with each one and have open frank discussions with them on why they are leaving to probe a bit deeper. It may be due to leadership/lack of, or any one of a number of other things...but if you don't ask, you will never know. Let them call out names for good and bad. They are on the way out, so no reprecussions. Never know, you may learn LOTS.
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COL (Join to see)
I've done this and it hasn't turned up any "bad apples." All of the reasons are purely centered on the self and the idea that they joined to fight, not train. It's unfortunate since the Army that fought and changed and did so well, only did so on the back of the Army of the 90's.
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Sir, I've seen a lot of good lieutenants leave the Army. Some felt they could do better outside of the military. The unit leadership could have been an influence as well. I'm not really too sure though.
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