Reforming The Pentagon's Promotion System Is Causing A Deep Rift Among Senior Military Leaders

The Pentagon, headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, taken from an airplane in January 2008. Wikipedia

Military Times: Inside the Pentagon personnel feud that's roiled the military's most senior leaders

Internal Pentagon drama is strangling Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s signature initiative to make the military’s promotion system function more like a Fortune 500 company, leaving the controversial reform effort unlikely to succeed during the Obama administration's final months.

The Defense Department's most senior military and civilian leaders have spent months debating a detailed plan to rewrite the policy governing how military officers are promoted, part of a slate of reforms known as “Force of the Future.” The idea is to end the “up-or-out” rules that force mid-career officers to leave the military if they fail to be promoted along rigid timelines, providing flexibility to pursue non-traditional career tracks or focus on developing technical expertise. But now the effort has stalled amid acrimony, finger pointing and disagreements.

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WNU Editor: The current top Generals came up through the existing promotion system .... so their mindset is understandable .... why change it. But we are living in a different world today .... case in point .... this would have been impossible to even contemplate 20 years ago, but today it is treated as a serious issue that needs to be resolved .... Disagreements slow Pentagon’s plan to allow transgender service members (Washington Post).

Yup .... this is not your grandfather's military.