SURVEY OF ARMY LEADERS: MILITARY NOT HEADED IN RIGHT DIRECTION

[Geee]

Human Events:

Three in four (74 percent) active duty U.S. Army leaders perceive their service is not headed in the right direction, according to an independent Army-wide survey. That result is partially due to the Army’s “political correctness” and President Barack Obama’s new, but questionable national security strategy.

America’s battle-proven Army leaders either disagree (38 percent) or neither agree or disagree (36 percent) with the survey statement that their service is “headed in the right direction to prepare for the challenges of the next 10 years.” Leader hesitancy to agree with the statement was undoubtedly influenced by challenges beyond the Army’s control.

Specifically, the survey took place in the midst of ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in late 2011, a very public budget battle to shrink the Army, and a shift in the nation’s security strategy that emphasizes naval and air forces at the expense of ground forces.

The Annual Survey of Army Leadership randomly sampled 16,800 commissioned and non-commissioned officers with a sampling error of +/-0.7 percent, which means there is a high degree of confidence in the results. The pollster was ICF International of Fairfax, Va.

Survey respondents identified the following reasons for not agreeing with the “right direction” statement.

First, 58 percent of those who did not agree with the “right direction” question cited as a reason the “Army is unable to retain quality leaders.” “Quality leaders” leave the Army for a variety of reasons which may be beyond the service’s control such as the economy.

Our all-volunteer Army relies on the good will of soldiers and their families to cope with today’s tough challenges. Some people are not suited for the wrenching difficulties associated with combat and back-to-back deployments. Further, even though Army leaders report high morale (59 percent) the service is struggling with morale-busting social problems: between 2006 and 2010 sex crimes increased 64 percent, domestic violence rose 33 percent and child abuse rose 43 percent.

[Valin]

@Geee

 

A couple of points.

A. Many of us thought this sequestration was a bad idea, right from the start, and the GOP was really really stupid for buying into it.

B. You may not like it, I may not like it, but make no mistake DOD are coming even if sequestration goes away (Please Lord!). The whole system of deciding which weapons/bean/boot/whatever is broken. There was a term used back in the day to describe this system...Fluster Cluck.