5 Things We Learned From the Under Secretary of the Army, Patrick Murphy

Last fall, Under Secretary of the Army, Patrick Murphy, came to RallyPoint to chat with our members on a live Q&A forum. You can see the full Q&A here: http://rly.pt/2uNHz54 . He answered question regarding Army spending, the California ARNG bonus repayment, and gave some advice to our current and retired service members. Here are six things we learned from him:

On NCO schooling and the S.T.E.P. model:

An Army SSG asked why NCOs find it difficult to get sent to the schools needed for promotion. He feels as if the Select Train Educate and Promote (S.T.E.P.) “system itself appears to automatically set people up for failure from the get go.” Murphy replied that the model is setup to ensure the advancement of leaders “based on their performance AND potential.” He continued by stating “leaders consider OPTEMPO deployments and course dates,” and do their best to give NCOs the opportunity for education and promotion.

On CA ARNG Recruitment Repayment:

An Army LTC questioned how the Army and DoD can work “with Congress to minimize the chances of another bonus repayment problem in the future.” Murphy responded with news that the OSD/Secretary of Defense has “taken the lead and has halted the recoupment regarding CA National Guard.”

On advice to the next Under Secretary of the Army:

“There is nothing like PTing with the troops.” He continued by explaining that doing PT with the soldiers lets him know what is really going on in the ranks. His last piece of advice was “investing time with Soldiers and their Families and letting them know how much we appreciate their service during these defining moments is critically important.”

On Wasteful Military Spending:

When asked what the most important process is to bring accountability and ROI of spending, Sec. Murphy responded by stating that “having fidelity to the American Taxpayer is critically important.” Sec. Murphy served as the Chief Management Officer of the Army and initiated the Every Dollar Counts program which results in billions of dollars saved.

On Civil-Military Relations:

With questions about how the Army can do a better job of promoting and building a stronger relationship with civilians, Sec. Murphy gave some sound advice. He started by stating that “we ALL have to do a better job connecting with our country.” He went on to point out service members make up 1% of our population - making it difficult to communicate our mission and efforts effectively, since few can truly understand. He urged that all of those who serve to promote the military and tell their story via social media in order to reach the rising generation.


Big, big thank you for Secretary Murphy for joining us and answering some questions that many members of the RP community felt were important. What other important take-aways did you get from his Q&A?