Army Officer Development: Historical Context
Abstract
Since the beginning of the last century, officer development in the U.S. Army has been predicated on a combination of education, training, and experience. It has entailed formal schooling, rotation through varied assignments, service at progressively higher echelons of command, and self-study to improve overall professional capacity. Career paths (tied to job performance, longevity of service, and promotion patterns) have been structured to broaden the interests, abilities and aptitudes of officers to enable them to function effectively in positions of steadily escalating responsibility. The mentoring of subordinates and regular performance appraisals have been, at least in theory, intrinsic elements of this developmental process. As noted in previous papers in this series, this methodology is broadly similar to that used by many business firms in the Industrial Age. This paper explores two aspects of the officer development process - the Army's school system and fully-funded civilian graduate education. Examining the historical evolution of these two elements highlights some of the critical and contentious issues that have surrounded officer education and training over the years and provides valuable insights into the officer development process. This paper concludes its coverage of the development process in the early 1980s, the point at which the Developing Officer Talent companion paper begins its most detailed analysis.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2010
- Accession Number
- ADA518337
Entities
People
- Arthur T. Coumbe