Fixing the Army (V): LTs who fail should be busted to enlisted to finish their time, and corporal should be a position of honor

Tom says: In the personnel area, I'd make an entirely
different series of recommendations, focussing on rewarding success, punishing
failure, and holding people accountable while still encouraging flexibility and
adaptiveness.

But this is his guest column, not mine.

By "Petronius
Arbiter"

Best Defense department of Army affairs

Personnel

Bring back Command
Sergeant Major as a rank, not a position. We have too much structure tied up in
making CSMs functional. Time to return to them being just the senior enlisted
advisor. There can only be one commander in any organization and only one
person responsible. Under normal circumstances, it is "tomfoolery" to relieve a
CSM when a Cdr is relieved. The Cdr is the only one responsible for the actions
of his organization and himself. The senior NCO works for him.

Remember CSMs are
senior enlisted advisors to the commander, not strategic leaders.

Establish a policy
where LTs are on probation until promoted to CPT. Commanders should have the
option of transferring those not to be promoted to 1LT to the enlisted ranks
where they will complete their service obligation. Some attrition is good. Bet
that would shake up the attitude of some junior officers who think they are
just buying time until they meet their five, four, or three year active service
commitment.

SPCs in NCO positions
of leadership must, no option, be laterally appointed to CPL. That imparts them
with legitimate credibility and authority. At one time Corporal was the most
respected rank in the Army. Make old and young alike respect Corporals again.

Address the issue of
pregnancies and deployability. Don't run away from it. Solve the problem
because it is having serious impact on unit readiness and military
effectiveness. While attacking with vigor the impact of pregnancies on unit and
combat readiness, also analyze why 16 percent of the Army is women but only 8
percent of the deployed force are women.

Certain
branches/MOSs/units should be allowed/required to have branch specific physical
fitness standards and tests to enforce those standards. They also must continue
to meet APFT requirements also. Example; Cannon artillery and armor have
requirements for extensive upper body strength other branches do not have (so
do mechanics by the way), train, and test accordingly. Get over the
one-standard-fits-all mentality.