U.S. Army laying off majors and captains:
http://news.msn.com/us/army-to-force-out-550-majors-some-in-afghanistan
Under budget constraints, much of such forced by the sequester forced by conservative legislators, the Army finds itself in the position of many corporations in recent years: Needing to downsize middle management. Or, phrased a more folksy way: Too many chiefs, too few Indians.
As long ago as I served in the Army, 1968-1971, the officer rank of Major struck me as an appendix, a useless vestige of earlier evolution. Majors seldom had positions of actual command, but were generally adjutants to Lieutenant Colonels or Colonels, glorified bag-carriers. Which is not to say they were all bad or incompetent people, by any means. But that position trapped many who had military career aspirations, and never achieved further promotion.
The timing of entry into today's volunteer Army seems to have enwrapped many others in this career limbo. And it is exactly parallel to what I saw happen to many private-sector middle managers in the 1990s, after I had left direct employment in a major corporation to become a private contractor. There certainly were some deadwood citizens in those positions, but many others just got caught in the treadmill at the wrong moment in their careers. It was always hard to turn down a promotion into middle management; more money, a title, a bigger office, etc.
But I turned that "opportunity" down back in 1992 because it came with an order to move to Houston, Texas, which, for family and personal reasons, I wasn't going to accept. I never looked back, but I had many friends who got sucked into that trap, and not long after regretted it.
Now we have people about to be jettisoned from their careers, in their mid-30s or later, into the stark world of private employment, and the VA (God help them all).
caw
http://news.msn.com/us/army-to-force-out-550-majors-some-in-afghanistan
Under budget constraints, much of such forced by the sequester forced by conservative legislators, the Army finds itself in the position of many corporations in recent years: Needing to downsize middle management. Or, phrased a more folksy way: Too many chiefs, too few Indians.
As long ago as I served in the Army, 1968-1971, the officer rank of Major struck me as an appendix, a useless vestige of earlier evolution. Majors seldom had positions of actual command, but were generally adjutants to Lieutenant Colonels or Colonels, glorified bag-carriers. Which is not to say they were all bad or incompetent people, by any means. But that position trapped many who had military career aspirations, and never achieved further promotion.
The timing of entry into today's volunteer Army seems to have enwrapped many others in this career limbo. And it is exactly parallel to what I saw happen to many private-sector middle managers in the 1990s, after I had left direct employment in a major corporation to become a private contractor. There certainly were some deadwood citizens in those positions, but many others just got caught in the treadmill at the wrong moment in their careers. It was always hard to turn down a promotion into middle management; more money, a title, a bigger office, etc.
But I turned that "opportunity" down back in 1992 because it came with an order to move to Houston, Texas, which, for family and personal reasons, I wasn't going to accept. I never looked back, but I had many friends who got sucked into that trap, and not long after regretted it.
Now we have people about to be jettisoned from their careers, in their mid-30s or later, into the stark world of private employment, and the VA (God help them all).
caw