Creating New Career Options for Officers in the U.S. Military

摘要

Since 1947, the U.S. military has followed an 'up-or-our' policy of personnel management, which requires that an officer be promoted within a certain period of time or leave the service. The policy was designed to encourage good performance, increase promotion opportunities, lower the average age of the service corps, and build a culture that defines success by promotion. Supporters argue that up-or-out weeds out antiquated or substandard officers, while others counter that it wastes the accumulated expertise of senior officers and reduces the overall experience level of the officer corps. The Undersecretary of Defense (personnel and Readiness) asked the RAND Corporation to outline alternatives to up-or-out that could be tested via demonstration projects, to suggest methods to evaluate these alternatives, and to work with the military services to identify possible communities in which to conduct the demonstrations. RAND provided four options designed to offer longer careers to qualified officers. The suggested practices within the programs draw from private-sector policies by emphasizing employability rather than promotability as the criterion for continued service. Each program addresses existing personnel management concerns that could be alleviated by introducing alternative career paths for highly skilled officers.