Options for Filling Vacant Officer Positions

摘要

The military services and combatant commands (COCOMs) have officer vacancies on their staffs. That is, funded officer manpower authorizations (or billets) are unfilled. Officer vacancies result when an officer with the requisite qualifications is not available to serve in a billet that requires such an officer. When this occurs, organizational performance and mission readiness can suffer. The services and the COCOMs have reported vacancies in funded officer billets. This has prompted DoD to become more interested in how best to use military manpower to meet mission demands. However, efforts to rectify the issue are complicated by the services, different approaches to meeting these demands. The services use different categories of military manpower to meet DoD mission needs, including the categories of commissioned officer, warrant officer (WO), limited-duty officer (LDO), and enlisted. Service approaches even to what appear to be the same duties can vary, as, for example, when the Air Force uses commissioned officers to pilot unmanned aviation systems while the Army uses enlisted personnel. In recent decades, three broad trends have reshaped the U.S. military and the work it performs. First, the number of active-duty personnel has diminished to 1.4 million, nearly its lowest number in the post. World War II era. Second, the qualifications of military personnel continue to improve, with the current force being the most qualified in U.S. military history. Third, the nature of military work continues to evolve and has become increasingly technical.