Life of a Junior Officer

[cb7893]

The Army is in the midst of a big transformation. I would urge you to read Force 2025 and the Army Strategic Planning Guidance if you're interested. Good PD.

Scout,
As much as I have always enjoyed your posts which aren't packed with unintelligible Military jargon and acronyms, this may be the most useful. For those of you who google it, search "Force 2025 and Beyond", not "Force 2025", unless you play video games.

It struck me, because last night I picked up my DS, AROTC MS IV at Ft. Riley, KS, where he completed CTLT. We spent the entire three hour car ride talking about the possible changes in the military, having never heard of Force 2025. So, thanks again.

He is at that fork in the road: Active Duty or Reserve/Nat'l Guard and Chem/Chem E grad school. He feels confident that he would get active duty and his first choice and even more confident that he would be the kind of soldier well suited for a leaner, smarter, more efficient fighting force. He is less confident that his talents and skill set may languish if he ends up in a bad place on active duty.

My question is, given the political/bureaucratic/institutional challenges of the military that you so often lament, and the meddling of congress, how on God's green earth will the DOD be able to pull off massive downsizing and transformation simultaneously? Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Force 2025 exactly what Donald Rumsfeld was mapping out prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom.

I'm not interested in influencing his decision, only concerned that he is well informed in making his ultimate decision.

Would appreciate any comments.

 

[LineInTheSand]

I like the question, but make it a new thread. The OP was asking about the day-to-day stuff here.

 

[scoutpilot]

Scout,
As much as I have always enjoyed your posts which aren't packed with unintelligible Military jargon and acronyms, this may be the most useful. For those of you who google it, search "Force 2025 and Beyond", not "Force 2025", unless you play video games.

It struck me, because last night I picked up my DS, AROTC MS IV at Ft. Riley, KS, where he completed CTLT. We spent the entire three hour car ride talking about the possible changes in the military, having never heard of Force 2025. So, thanks again.

He is at that fork in the road: Active Duty or Reserve/Nat'l Guard and Chem/Chem E grad school. He feels confident that he would get active duty and his first choice and even more confident that he would be the kind of soldier well suited for a leaner, smarter, more efficient fighting force. He is less confident that his talents and skill set may languish if he ends up in a bad place on active duty.

My question is, given the political/bureaucratic/institutional challenges of the military that you so often lament, and the meddling of congress, how on God's green earth will the DOD be able to pull off massive downsizing and transformation simultaneously? Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Force 2025 exactly what Donald Rumsfeld was mapping out prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom.

I'm not interested in influencing his decision, only concerned that he is well informed in making his ultimate decision.

Would appreciate any comments.

Thanks for your kind words.

I like the question, but make it a new thread. The OP was asking about the day-to-day stuff here.

I'll answer in a PM to keep this one on track. But, if a junior officer wants to know what the largest DoD component sees as the future, those are both good reading. Regional alignment is the next big thing.