Should the Army keep pushing in new soldiers while barring current soldiers from re-enlisting in their current MOS?

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 06 Feb 2014 13:48:41 -0500

I have seen this multiple times so far. A re-up NCO will come down and tell soldiers they have to sign a document that will show they aknowlede that they aren't able to re-enlist in their current MOS. These particular soldiers who I've seen aren't being barred for UCMJ, flags, or any other negative admistrative reason. Just that the Army has over filled their MOS and rather than keep the expierienced personel in their current field they would rather flood it with new privates who turn into NCOs that were promoted too quickly to fill numbers and slots. It just doesn't make sense to me, so maybe someone who knows more about it can shed some light on it. Ironcally enough, I was recently DA Selected to recruit, so I will soon be sitting on the other side of the fence so to speak.

Response by SGT Ben Keen made Feb 6 at 2014 2:30 PM

SGT Ben Keen — Thu, 06 Feb 2014 14:30:05 -0500

I have to agree, it doesn't make sense to just throw a Soldier to the curb and spend all the money required to recruit, train, and outfit a new Soldier. What policy is being quoted on the form? It be interesting to read what that say. Maybe in that document you can find better understanding.

Response by SFC Michael Hasbun made Feb 6 at 2014 2:48 PM

SFC Michael Hasbun — Thu, 06 Feb 2014 14:48:19 -0500

It's not as simple as "the Army needs XXX amount of people".

The Army needs a certain amount of people at each skill level per MOS. It needs X amount of Privates, X amount of SGT's, X amount of Generals, and so on, and those numbers are even further subdivided by MOS's, Special Duty assignments, specialty tracks, etc...

You can't just stop assessing people into the military for the sake of the people already in. It's not that simple. There are countless moving pieces, every single one of which influences and interacts with all the others.

Rest assured these things are not being done arbitrarily. Managing personnel on this scale is a MASSIVELY involved undertaking with more factors than you and I can discuss in ten years, much less a quick RP discussion.

With stuff like this, a good rule of thumb is, if at any time you catch yourself thinking "this is simple, all you have to do is xxx" it means you don't understand it. These things are amazingly complex. No one person is in charge of it for a reason.