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20 percent of screened Army captains booted by retention board

Nearly one-fifth of the 4,000 Regular Army captains screened by retention boards that met in September are being put on notice they will be involuntarily separated or retired later this year. The 740 affected officers, all captains of the Army Competitive Category, Nurse Corps and Medical Service Corps, will be notified between now and Feb.…

Nearly one-fifth of the 4,000 Regular Army captains screened by retention boards that met in September are being put on notice they will be involuntarily separated or retired later this year.

The 740 affected officers, all captains of the Army Competitive Category, Nurse Corps and Medical Service Corps, will be notified between now and Feb. 25 of their pending release by a general officer or other senior leader in their chain of command.

Separations and retirements will occur not later than Dec. 1, and will contribute to the end-strength reductions slated for fiscal 2016 and 2017.

via www.armytimes.com

Ouch.

Look, I understand that service, particularly commissioned service, is not a guaranteed lifetime employment.

But I am afraid we're going to find ourselves short of Majors, and consequently Lieutenant Colonels in a few years.

And while this board theoretically screens the bottom 20%, it also usually has the effect of creaming off a good portion of the top 10%.

Sharp guys with options look at the way the Army treats people, and subsequently vote with their feet.

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Responses to “20 percent of screened Army captains booted by retention board”

  1. Esli

    The OSB has, so far, culled the weak, which is a good thing. A great side-benefit is that promotion rates have dropped as well, meaning that we are cutting the lesser quality officers. Unfortunately that is catching some of the better guys as well, though. Overall, while cutting strength is not good, it is mostly keeping the right guys. When it might not be so good is in the event that we reverse the drawdown and the officer strength is not there to support it, and then everyone with a pulse gets promoted again.

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  2. ron snyder

    And where is the list of Generals that are going to be culled?

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  3. Quartermaster

    Ron is asking the right question.
    Back in the early 80s I was talking with the recruiting officer for the ROTC unit at Tenn Tech and I asked about the big post-Vietnam RIF. He said they let a lot of the right people go, and kept far too many of the wrong ones and they were trying to rectify the mistake.I don’t think they ever did.
    Bill Tuttle was one of those that got caught up in it. He managed to survive as a Warrant Officer Pilot in the NJ ARNG, but it was a come down from the commissioned ranks.

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  4. Esli

    I don’t know where the generals are. I am going to make an assumption that, by cutting lower officer strength, and by having cut BCTs, which are the traditional path to become a general, that generals will eventually decrease some small amount through attrition, but not by separation boards. And, yes, having seen the quality of the officers selected for separation, the army is generally doing it right. I don’t agree with cutting force structure, but the quality of officer will go up as a result of the cuts. Ultimately, I don’t particularly care to waste time in how many flag officers the army has. For reasons I don’t know, they’ve put more of them in place over time, but it is still infinitesimal when compared with how many officers enter the pipeline and if they think they need that many, oh well. Who cares.

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  5. Esli

    I don’t agree with the idea that sharp guys will get out because they see the army cutting duds. Some sharp guys have always gotten out, and will continue to. More so, though, sharp guys hate seeing duds promoted, paid, and treated equally with them for doing less and doing it badly. Sharp guys appreciate that the duds who are being carried and along for the free ride are being put out or not selected for promotion. Astute guys, as you alluded to, worry about undoing it all without massive promotion rates to fix it later if/when necessary.

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