General and Flag Officer Careers
General and Flag Officer Careers

Author: Harry Thie

Publisher: RAND Corporation

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 96

ISBN-13:

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Congress has recently expressed concern that the current tenure system for developing general and flag officers does not effectively prepare them for handling increasing levels of responsibility and for performing with maximum efficiency at each level of assignment. This report assesses the continued appropriateness of mandatory retirement of general and flag officers after 35 years. It focuses on the value of extending tenure, specifically examining promotions, number of assignment, and career length. The study discusses two types of consequences resulting from such an extension. Systemic results of longer service lead to fewer promotions and fewer rising to the highest grades, but increased stability and experience. Career-path consequences indicate more depth or breadth of experience could result for officers. The appropriateness of continued mandatory retirement after 35 years depends, finally, on objectives. If the objective is rapid career-path movement to positions of responsibility, the 35-year limit accomplishes this. If the goal is more experienced officers and greater stability, removing the limit seems best. Decision makers will need to decide which objective is most important.

General and Flag Officer Careers: Consequences of Increased Tenure
General and Flag Officer Careers: Consequences of Increased Tenure

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

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Congress has long taken a keen interest in the management of officer careers. It played a major role in the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act of 1980, the legislation that currently governs officer personnel management in all services. Recently, it has turned its attention to the tenure of the most senior military personnel, the general and flag officers. Although current law permits exceptions, it requires most flag-rank officers to retire once they have 35 years of active commissioned service. Congress is concerned that the current system does not adequately prepare officers for the most senior assignments. As a result of these concerns, Congress asked the Secretary of Defense to review the career patterns of flag-rank officers. It requested specific data about average time-in-grade both when selected and when promoted as well as the length of tours. It also asked the Secretary to assess the appropriateness of mandatory retirement at 35 years.

Challenging Time in DOPMA
Challenging Time in DOPMA

Author: Peter Schirmer

Publisher: Rand Corporation

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 116

ISBN-13: 0833039482

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"Many of the laws and policies that govern officer career management (often collectively referred to as "DOPMA," after the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act of 1980) have been in place for decades. DOPMA has served the needs of the services reasonably well, but the current system may not meet the requirements of the future operating environment. One criticism of DOPMA is that it does not allow for much variety in officers' career paths because it is time-driven. Alternatively, officers' competencies are now emerging as the basis for career management. In this monograph, the authors demonstrate how a competency-based officer personnel management system could provide more flexibility in preparing military officers for the wide range of roles and missions of the U.S. military in the 21st century. This analysis focuses on practices governing promotions for military officers and closely related assignment and retirement policies."--Rand web site

Aligning the Stars
Aligning the Stars

Author: Margaret C. Harrell

Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 134

ISBN-13: 9780833035011

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The Department of Defense (DoD) experiences a high turnover from its general and flag officers (G/FOs). A concern exists that simply lengthening the stay of senior officers will only clog the system, stagnating promotions throughout the entire officer corps. In response to this, RAND researchers analyzed the current system, reviewed literature on corporate management practices, and modeled different ways of managing G/FOs. In addition to proposing variations to the promotion model, the authors address the concerns expressed by those in DoD and Congress about implementing such changes.

Interagency and International Assignments and Officer Career Management
Interagency and International Assignments and Officer Career Management

Author: Harry Thie

Publisher: RAND Corporation

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 188

ISBN-13:

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At the request of Congress to the Secretary of Defense, RAND undertook a study on the advisability and feasibility of a cadre of officers whose assignments and schooling would be managed so as to ensure a viable career track in which the officers would serve in interagency and international assignments. This report presents the results of the study. It (1) identifies approximately 330 such assignments at the policy level and an additional 1200 positions at the other organizational levels; (2) develops four career management models that are variations of the due-course model--managing leader succession, managing competencies, managing skills, and managing the exception; (3) looks at the feasibility of each career model at the level of the officer personnel management system as a whole and at the level of officer career tracks; and (4) assesses the advisability of the models from the perspective of the individual officer, the interagency and

Selected Rand Abstracts
Selected Rand Abstracts

Author: Rand Corporation

Publisher:

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 340

ISBN-13:

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Includes Reports (R-series), Rand Memorandums (RM-series), papers (P-series), and Books.

Military Personnel
Military Personnel

Author: U S Government Accountability Office (G

Publisher: BiblioGov

Published: 2013-07

Total Pages: 38

ISBN-13: 9781289244538

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Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) proposed modifications of the Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 concerning tour length requirements for joint officers. GAO found that DOD cited limited time, crowded career paths, selection of officers, officer availability, problems with mid-year moves, increased experience, increased number of candidates, and less turbulence among officers in nonjoint assignments to support its proposal to reduce the minimum and average tour-length requirement for field-grade officers from 3.5 to 3 years and the tour-length requirement for general and flag officers from 3 to 2 years. GAO also found that: (1) the degree of difficulty in accommodating a 3.5-year joint tour for field-grade officers varied among the services; (2) each service typically had enough total non-war-fighting time to accommodate a 3.5-year joint tour for field-grade officers; and (3) the services would have to make significant changes in their assignment patterns to accommodate a 3-year joint tour for general and flag officers.