Pentagon Duty--Heaven or Hell

摘要

This paper compared and contrasted civilians views in the business world aboutcorporate headquarters duty with that of Army officer views about the Pentagon. The research showed that civilians view corporate headquarters duty as career enhancing and will move there if offered the opportunity. This contrasts with Army officers, many of whom avoid, retire or separate rather than accept a Pentagon assignment. Those officers who view the Pentagon as career enhancing are more likely to accept assignment there and to view the assignment as positive. The research also showed that the reality of Pentagon assignments are long hours, low morale, and more importantly no sense of accomplishment. The research also showed that assignment to the Pentagon is not necessary for promotion to LTC or COL re-enforcing a belief that most Pentagon jobs are not career enhancing. Separation from troop assignments may cost the officer competitiveness for promotion and battalion command selection. This paper shows that the Army pays a high price for negative perceptions about Pentagon duty. Additional research should be funded to validate this research and to recommend ways to improve Pentagon career benefits.