The job-cutting at Fort Leavenworth: A general from out there responds

[image error]

By Brig. Gen. Gordon
Davis Jr.

Best Defense guest
respondent

Thanks
for posting the letter from one of our
faculty members
to your blog. When people's livelihood
is concerned, it is a matter of great importance -- and it demands care,
transparency, and thoughtfulness.

I'd
like to contribute to the discussion by explaining the 'why' of faculty changes
ongoing at the Army's Command and General Staff School, as well as the'how'
(partially addressed) and 'what' we are aiming to achieve.

First,
we have great faculty, military and civilian, at the Army Command and General
Staff College (of which CGSS is the largest school) who are committed to their
mission of developing the Army's future leaders.

Our
mission is the 'why' we have decided to change the ratio of civilian to
military faculty. To develop our the
Army's mid-grade leaders we need the right balance of graduate-level teaching
skills, scholarship, continuity (provided by our civilian faculty) and serving
role models, recent operational experience, and future military leaders
(provided by our military faculty).

Before
9/11 that balance was roughly 10 percent civilian, 90 percent military. Due to the exigency of supporting the wars
over the past decade that balance shifted to 70 percent civilian, 30 percent military. With reduction of commitments abroad and an
opportunity to rebalance, the Army leadership has decided that the optimal
ratio is 60 percent civilian, 40 percent military. We
are, after all, an institution which provides Professional Military Education
to Army leaders. To maintain the
military expertise required in our ranks, to provide development opportunities
(e.g. teaching experience), and to ensure the stewardship demanded of our
profession, we need the right balance of military leaders teaching other
military leaders -- a time-proven ingredient for a successful learning
military. The decision to move to this ratio
has been a matter of discussion for a couple of years and now we have the
opportunity to move to it.

There
had been serious discussion of reducing our faculty-to-student ratio due to
defense budget reductions, which would have meant losing significant numbers of
both civilian and military faculty. Fortunately, other offsets were made and we are able to maintain the
investment in quality Professional Military Education, which our leaders need
to be able to adapt and prevail against current and future threats.

As to
the 'how' of our reduction, there are several key points I want to share. Faculty have been informed from the outset as
options for change were being considered. We developed a plan in coordination with the Civilian Personnel Advisory
Center at Fort Leavenworth to release civilian faculty members employed over a
two-year period, so that the we could retain the highest performing employees
and so that no employee would be released before the end of his/her term of
employment. This allows faculty time to
transition out of teaching positions as we gain military instructors. Each teaching department identified
assessment criteria based on their respective content. For example, criteria for assessing faculty
members were different for the Department of Military History than for the
Department of Tactics or Department of Command & Leadership, etc. Each civilian faculty member was assessed --
high performer, average performer, below average performer -- and informed where
they stood.

To
reach a 60 percent civilian, 40 percent military faculty ratio required us to release up to
33 civilian faculty employed under provisions of Title 10, U.S. Code. However, that number has reduced as new
teaching positions have arisen to address increased Distance Learning enrollment.

There
are points made in the earlier blog which are not accurately represented. Some of the people referred to as leaving
have left for personal reasons unrelated to our faculty changes as the author
suggested. Some have left for higher
paying jobs. However, we have lost a few
good teachers and the changes in faculty retention may have played some part in
their decisions. That part of any
personnel change process is hard to avoid. What we can control is making sure that we retain or release the right
faculty members and that those we release are treated fairly and respectfully.

Some
readers may not be aware that employees hired under the provisions of Title 10
U.S.C. are not permanent employees. Our
faculty do not receive tenure as in civilian colleges and universities. All new
CGSC Title 10 employees receive initial terms of two years, and may apply for
subsequent terms of one to five years. As a management process to deal with the new requirements, we have
instituted a two year term letter for those seeking to be rehired. This policy was not meant to be permanent,
but to allow us to reach the new faculty ratio.

Finally,
we have an Advisory Council elected by the CGSC Staff and Faculty (primarily
civilian) that I rely on for feedback on issues of concern or friction. I meet with the leadership regularly and the
Dean, Directors, key Staff and I discuss each issue raised. The two year renewal policy has not been an
item presented by the council for us to review. However, given the current situation I am
going to ask the staff and faculty to provide feedback on the policy.

In
conclusion, we are re-structuring our CGSS faculty to increase the numbers of
active duty Army officers of the right caliber with fresh operational
experience to meet our mission in preparing student officers as well as provide
teaching experience to future military leaders.

Thank
you for providing a medium for discussion, and I hope this information is
useful. We are looking forward to your
visit out to us at the end of this month.

Brig. Gen. (promotable) Gordon
"Skip" Davis Jr. is Deputy Commanding General CAC Leader Development &
Education Deputy Commandant CGSC. He c ommanded 2nd Battalion, 29th Infantry Regiment, and then was the
Deputy Brigade Commander, 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division. He also commanded the 2nd Brigade, 78th
Division (Training Support) at Fort Drum, New York, which he deployed in
support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He also has served in Afghanistan, Bosnia,
Mozambique, Zaire, Rwanda, Congo, and Liberia.