MILITARY PERSONNEL: Strategic Plan Needed to Address Army's Emerging Officer Accession and Retention Challenges
Abstract
Accessing and retaining high-quality officers in the current environment of increasing deployments and armed conflict may be two of the all volunteer forces greatest challenges. The military services use three programs to access officer candidates: (1) military academies, (2) the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC), and (3) Officer Candidate Schools (OCS). In addition to accessing new officers, the services must retain enough experienced officers to meet current operational needs and the services transformation initiatives. GAO was asked to assess the extent to which the services are accessing and retaining the officers required to meet their needs. GAO also identified steps that the Department of Defense (DOD) and the services have taken and the impediments they face in increasing officers foreign language proficiency. For this report, GAO examined actual accession and retention rates for officers in fiscal years (FYs) 2001, 2003, and 2005 as well as projections for later years. Also, GAO reviewed documents on foreign language training and plans. GAO recommends that the Army develop and implement a strategic plan to address its emerging officer accession and retention problems. DOD partially concurred with GAOs recommendation.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2007
- Accession Number
- AD1174886
Entities
People
- Adam J Yu
- Alissa H. Czyz
- Angela D. Thomas
- Barbara A. Gannon
- Bethann E. Ritter
- Cynthia L. Grant
- Derek B. Stewart
- Jack E. Edwards
- Jean L. Mcsween
- Julia C. Matta
- Kurt A. Burgeson
- Laura G Czohara
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office