Why is the Army Losing it's Best Soldiers?

 
Just read a great article in The Washington Post about how the army is losing it's best leaders. Here is the original article "How To Lose Great Leaders? Ask The Army" The article is about young officers and why a lot of them quit after their first tour of duty, but a lot of it applies to the regular soldier as well. A quote from this article that really grabbed my attention was "The Army has bled talent for decades, a consequence of a deeply dysfunctional organization that poorly matches jobs with talent and doesn’t trust its officers to make choices about their own careers". This is true even down to the enlisted soldiers as well. I joined as an enlisted PFC with over 13 years of civilian I.T. experience. In addition to civilian work experience, I had traditional schooling and held several industry certifications. My MOS (Military Occupational Specialty...i.e. your job) was a 25B, an Information Technology Specialist. I graduated AIT at the top of my class...the distinguished honor graduate. How often did I actually do I.T. work during my entire career in the army? The answer was only a week, while I was off on an FTX (Field Training Exercise). The rest of the time I did menial tasks such as serving coffee and cleaning.

The problem wasn't just mine, it seemed everyone I spoke to hardly ever seemed to do the job they signed up for. This matches another quote from the article "High quit rates are just a symptom of the deeper problem that too many military members are mis-matched with their jobs". Soldiers are only volunteers the day they sign up, after that everyone is "voluntold" what they will do and where they will be. Soldiers are just a bunch of numbers, and a certain number of soldiers are just put in to fill each gap. Another longer quote from the article goes on to explain this process "The mantra from the central planners in the bowels of the Pentagon has always been that the “needs of the military come first.” That’s dumb. Smart organizations in the private sector have learned that putting employees’ needs first—ahead of corporate ones—only seems unproductive to short-term thinkers. Just look at the way Silicon Valley companies pamper their talent because of how it helps to maximize the bottom line. Compulsion just won’t work in today’s labor market"

I left after my first enlistment and I'm back to a normal job where my I.T. talents are used on a daily basis. I come to work, I do the job I was hired for...every day! It seems like a no brainer.  There is no way I would recommend anyone to join today's military if they are joining for a particular job. The article finishes up with a great recommendation "It will require the Pentagon to establish a job board which allows qualified officers and enlistees the freedom to apply for any open position. And it will mean instituting substantive evaluations that recognize merit more than seniority". Will something like this every happen? I really doubt it, the big army machine is stuck in it's ways and is extremely slow to change. Check out the original article and see what you think.