July 28, 2011
Command Post: "Is U.S. Military Personnel Policy Ready For The 21st Century?"
Many experts say the industrial-era personnel system still in use by the Pentagon -- with its up-or-out promotions, its non-vesting pension system for the first 20 years, and its decrepit means of evaluating officers -- was perfect for World War II. But now that we have an all-volunteer force reliant on skilled people who often can find work elsewhere, is the current system the best way to maintain the world's best military? John Nagl of the Center for a New American Security and your Battleland correspondent tussle with the issue, with help from Dave Barno, a retired Army lieutenant general, and Nora Bansahel, a former Rand Corp. military strategist now at CNAS.
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