Strategic Studies Institute

Towards a U.s. Army Officer Corps Strategy for Success: Developing Talent (Officer Corps Strategy Series) (Volume 5) Strategic Studies Institute

The U. S. Army has always touted itself as a capstone developmental experience and still does so today? You made them strong?we?ll make them Army Strong. The Army is almost universally acknowledged as an organization that powerfully develops talent in areas such as leadership, teamwork behavior, work ethics, adaptability, fitness, and many others. Yet despite this well-earned reputation, the Army must remain vigilant. Authorized strength and inventory mismatches, an inverse relationship between responsibility and formal developmental time, and sparse non-operational development opportunities are serious challenges that the Army must address. Developing talent is important in all high performing organizations, but it is particularly critical to the Army for several reasons. First, the mission of fighting and winning wars requires truly championship-level talent?America?s national security depends on it. Second, Americans entrust the very lives of their sons and daughters to the Army?they deserve to be led by superstars. And third, limited lateral entry into midcareer and senior level officer positions means the Army cannot rely upon poaching talent from outside organizations as corporate America does. Instead, the Army must retain and continuously develop its entry level talent to meet present and future demands.