Analysis of the Army Centralized and the Marine Corps Decentralized Lieutenant Colonel/Colonel Command Selection Systems

摘要

Command selection at the lieutenant colonel and colonel level is of critical importance to every United States armed service. Each service has its own approach to meet unique requirements; however, in total, the principle involved is achieved through either a centralized (service headquarters controlled) or decentralized (subordinate headquarters controlled) command selection system. The Army uses a centralized, and the Marine Corps uses a decentralized system. The inherent differences in these two divergent methods may influence the attitudes of Army and Marine officer toward command selection and command selection systems. Research in this area may lead to improvements in one or both systems. This paper discusses the background and evolution of centralized command selection, the relevant findings of several subsequent studies to evaluate and refine the system, and special considerations of both Army and Marine command selection. The study found that the vast majority of Army officers surveyed are very confident in the centralized system; however, 67% of the Marine officers surveyed have reservations about decentralized command selection. The paper concludes with an analysis of the research data and recommendations regarding command selection and further research possibilities.