From Four to Two: Transformation of the Army Ordnance Officer and Warrant Officer Corps

Abstract

Personnel transformation is one of the most challenging tasks faced by senior Army leaders in executing The Army Transformation Plan. The officer and warrant officer transformation is moving slowly and in some cases not at all. The dynamics of the future battlefield which will result in shorter decision cycles greater distances and split based maintenance operations are forcing the Ordnance Corps to transform its personnel. This study will examine how senior leaders within the Army and specifically the Ordnance Corps must change the officer and warrant officer force structure education system and leader development. These changes must take place in order for Ordnance Officers and Warrants to successfully support the Warfighter with the two-level maintenance system. This transformation is necessary to meet the needs of a strategically responsive force-projection Army. The current four-level maintenance system will not meet the needs of the Interim or Objective Forces. The system utilizes multiple organizations with fixed organizational structures containing redundant capabilities. The new two-level maintenance system will digitally link maintainers maintenance managers and the supported equipment. In addition this maintenance system would eliminate redundant capabilities and allow for responsive flexibility with tailored modular organizations. This will require Ordnance Officers and Warrant Officers (or better known as "the maintainers of the Army") to better anticipate, analyze, and tailor available resources for effective, timely support of complex weapon systems. The current system allows the officer and warrant officer to provide reactive support when a system or one of its components fails or exhibits a symptom of failure. In the future, customer needs will have to be anticipated through embedded diagnostics and prognostic technologies.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 07, 2003
Accession Number
ADA420133

Entities

People

  • Joyce P. Napier

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Control Systems
  • Deployment
  • Distance Learning
  • Doctrine
  • Logistics
  • Maintenance
  • Maintenance Management
  • Management Personnel
  • Military Education
  • Military Science
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personnel Management
  • Students
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare
  • Warrant Officers

Readers

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  • Occupational Health and Safety.
  • Systems Analysis and Design