Creating a better Officer Corps

[ssnspoon]

I have long held that a (fairly) simple rework can work wonders, save us money and create a much stronger officer corps at the top. Here is my idea of a three tiered plan.

First we MUST change the statutory nature of promotions. In my ideal plan, "lineal number" would cease to be the determinator at each promotion...get a fresh start. Make the promotion timing more flexible. For example:
Make LTJG anywhere from 18 months to 2.5 years.
LT same 1.5-2.5 years (3-5 years total)
LCDR in 3-9 years (6-14 yrs)
CDR in another 4-8 years (10-22)

WHY?

Think to your past squadrons. Have you ever seen a JG performing as well or better than a LT after three years, me too. Make him one! How about a LT performing like a DH, make him an O-4 after 3 years as an LT! Same with DH's, make a CDR early. If you are the cream of the crop, fine, you rise to the top.
What about the late guys, that is ok too, we stop looking at this as a negative. We have plenty of jobs in the Navy that need a capable officer who can follow orders. Those guys who don't really lead well, are not self starters, but can follow instructions on a list...sure keep them employed to do the jobs that NEED to be done, but suck the life out of other, BETTER officers, keep those guys employed tactically.

Now this would require a change in law, and that is a hard sell, unless you can point to a way to save money. In this era of cost savings, this might be easier than we think.

This leads into my second tier...PAY.

You can drastically reduce bonus amounts, thus saving some personnel budget. If you show a person that they can advance more quickly, you motivate a greater number to perform...better people. One great side effect is that they naturally make more money sooner simply by being advanced early. No bonus required, your bonus is being a LCDR at 6 years if you are shit hot! But wait, where does this money come from? Easy, it comes from the pockets of the low hanging fruit, that mouth breather who writes the schedule and only does what he is told and never self motivates to do anything better in the squadron...that guy who took 5 years to make LT, who is still a LCDR at 14 yrs service.



I believe this would reduce the reliance on bonuses. MANY JO's I have talked with agree that bonuses are nice, but recognition and early advancement would be just fine to prove their worth to NAE.

Finally, FITREP system.

You MUST find a way to make it a true evaluation. If that new guy comes in and blows you away, give him the EP, from the beginning! The mantra stays the same, sustained superior performance. Advancement and its timing can be based on a personal quota system. No real fundamental change for the leadership here, rather than managing WHO gets the EP, you just manage HOW MANY they get. Is a guy a killer leader, ensure he gets the requisite 1-2 EP's required to make JG early. Early LT maybe takes 2 EP's as an Ensign and 2 as a JG, etc. This might require a quota for the CO's. Maybe you can only give out X number of EP's in your tour meaning you need to manage them. If you see a killer JG that walks on water, you might need to make the hard decision to have an extra LT as a P who is going to promote 6-12 months late.

Part of this FITREP system helps with bonuses too. Set an upper limit (say $25,ooo/yr) for the bonuses, but make it not only T/M/S specific, but PERFORMANCE specific. Right now you get all levels from shithead to water-walker for the same price...that is stupid. How many EP's did they get (remember they need more Eps THROUGHOUT the ranks to advance early...sustained, superior performance). Only got one EP ever, fine you get $5000 because we need the home guard babysitter OIC, 7 EP's holy shit i'll pay you $25K because you are more apt to leave and seek greener pastures, so we will make the Navy have a green pasture for YOU.


Obviously I don't have all the answers. I just know that bonuses are not the answer to the newer generation of Naval Officer. If they are there, and we want to stay in, we will take them. I know it was EASY for me to turn it down even after the amount went up a bunch. I say PROVE you value these men and women and they will stay for that alone (many of them).

 

[BigRed389]

You've got some interesting ideas, and I agree with your overall sentiment.

And I know you already put up a disclaimer you don't have the answers. That said:
What is an O-3 performing as an O-4? Being awesome as an O-3 doesn't necessarily mean you are ready to be an O-4. Are they actually doing O-4 jobs or just rocking at a lower level?
Slow guys. What's the endgame for them? I don't really need an O-anything that can't lead, manage, or organize...to just follow a checklist. So what is the proper career termination process for them?
You might be interested reading up on the "Mod Squad" when Zumwalt was CNO. Me personally, that kind of program holds more job satisfaction than new rank/pay...I think ACTUALLY getting a chance to operate at a higher level and then proving yourself successful should then be tied to BZ promotions.

FITREPs...new guy generally gets new guy P'd because new guy jobs aren't the most demanding. I'm generally not going to make the new guy handle the most critical/difficult programs until I see that he's trustworthy. Also presents an interesting dilemma of talent quality spread at commands. A command full of rock stars is going to screw over some rock stars...while a command full of rocks will make a mediocre guy look phenomenal. Especially odd when you get it tied to a "bonus spread." Does the reporting senior's own rankings affect the value of their subordinates FITREPs?

 

[smittyrunr]

Great thoughts- now go put them in the survey they launched today http://www.dodretention.org/

 

[wlawr005]

What do you do with all the shit hot O5s that make it at 12 years? How do you keep them around till 20? You can't make them all O6s...that'd be pretty damn expensive. Additionally, how do you determine who gets promoted? The system you speak of is very similar to the enlisted promotion system and we all know that not all Chiefs are created equal...even though they had to be "shit hot" to make Chief.

I feel the problem with the Navy promotion system in general is the whole mindset of "luck and timing". The mindset may or may not be accurate, but the causal factors that create it do exist. As an organization, we are committed to the fact that we have to promote from within, however...there needs to be a better system in place to correlate leadership ability, tactical ability, and management skill.

I don't have a solid solution for what we should do, I'm not that smart. I do believe however, not every pilot should need or aspire to have command of a ship someday...those OOD letters and sea tours as ship's company could be better spent honing their skills in their career specialty. For starters, promotion to O4 should be determined by the community...not the Navy as a whole.

 

[ssnspoon]

I disagree that new guys get the P because their jobs are less demanding. In fact all I ever heard checking in (from MANY CO's) was "you understand you are new, so you get the P" or "You are doing great, but I can't rank you above the other, more senior guys or I would screw them over"

As for the shit hot O-5's, now you have a cadre of awesome dude to choose from...fill your upper ranks with truly great dudes. Sure, some will not make it, but this is the F-ing military, we do this for the good of our country, people need to get over themselves and realize good people will get screwed and that is OK if better guys stay in because of it. I would lose no sleep over being sent home if it was TRUELY due to a better person filling my shoes. It should be done for the sake of the country, NOT the sake of what you THINK you deserve for YOUR career. I think people get too caught up in what the country can do for them.

As I write this, I think of the OIC that was brought home for loss of confidence. O-4, >20 years of service. Was he a bad guy, was he dishonorable, no...just sucked at leadership in that case. Why not think him for his service and let him retire...NOOOO the Navy has set as its goal to get the most of us to be in a pool for O-5 selection, so we keep paying this guy a salary, send him to war college...2-3 more years of pay and 5-7.5% more retirement, what a waste.

I think people have begun to act like this is a sort of welfare program and that they DESERVE promotion. Get out there and PROVE it I say!

Sorry, rant disengaged.

 

[Spekkio]

As far as the 'new guy gets the P,' you are aware that O-1/O-2 cannot get anything other than a P by instruction, right? There's that whole automatic promotion thing that occurs which makes an EP/MP moot. The amount of officers in any given grade are set by law, so in order to allow more dynamic promotion timelines you'd have to get Congress to change the statute to allow for more dynamic numbers. Which I don't think would necessarily be bad, but I think that John Boehner needs more than 'but but my JO feelings' to entertain it.

Your gripe with the 'new guy' is better aimed at the experienced guys who get hosed. The 'new guy' has plenty of time left in his tour to get 'movement to the right' on his FITREP. I've seen this be more of a frustrating issue for a shit-hot DH who can't get a #1 in squadron because some other guy who was ranked #1 the previous year and can't be reduced because that's a kiss of death at boards. So basically, as long as you don't monumentally turn into a dirtbag it's nearly impossible to move down after getting a high FITREP mark -- probably another reason COs generally reserve it for guys nearing the end of their tours. But #2 was good enough for him to promote and screen for the next career milestone, anyway.

As far as appointing officers to higher ranks more quickly based on performance, traditionally that was only done in wartime, partly out of necessity and partly because you had someone who proved his ability to effectively lead in battle. What do you do if, god forbid, Pearl Harbor 2 happens and you have a 15-year Admiral, promoted quickly based on his ability to be a superb administrative warrior, leading the defense and counter-offensive? Officer tours are so short that you barely have enough time to master the job as it is before you're whisked away to do something else and I don't think that shortening them further can be done without sacrificing warfighting expertise.

I think that the system has its issues and promoting more quickly based on top-notch performance is a good idea, but you are overlooking a lot of details that account for the system that we have and why it exists. I think that a lot of JO sour grapes comes not from slow promotions (2 whole years), but from a mismatch between the responsibility and freedom to make policy that they are expecting to have as a DIVO and the responsibility and freedom they actually get. And I think that this is especially bad in the surface/sub community where you basically have your JOs stand in the corner with a checklist while the CO/XO and DHs run the show during the most 'interesting' evolutions.

 

[bert]

My advice to the OP is to try to volunteer to be an assistant recorder on a board as soon as you can. It's great that you want to improve the system, but you aren't very likely to suggest anything that might help/make sense until you actually understand what the system is.

 

[ssnspoon]

I have been trying to get on a board for years, still hasn't happened. I agree with many of the above points. I never thought "my idea" was perfect, just hoping to spur some conversations about how we COULD change the system to adjust to the times. I think (from my explanation above) that there could be other ways to promote people (and yes, it would take a law change), reward people, etc to keep better people in who might otherwise leave for greener pastures all without merely paying them more.

 

[Pags]

The services' hands are largely tied by Federal Law pertaining to promotions, numbers, etc. So any major change would first necessitate a change to existing laws.

 

[smoke_screen]

Great post. It is insanely frustrating to be an ambitious person as a naval officer. There really aren't any good answers but if you want a work-hard-be-compensated transaction then it's not the place.

 

[LET73]

Great post. It is insanely frustrating to be an ambitious person as a naval officer. There really aren't any good answers but if you want a work-hard-be-compensated transaction then it's not the place.

Yes and no. Where the frustration comes in is in seeing the dumb ones make it--but if we're talking an 80-90% promotion rate to O4, plenty of people in the bottom 30% are guaranteed to make it, and some of those people are going to be senior to you. When that fact makes the smart people jump ship, it only reduces the percentage of smart O4s who are up for O5, and so on. I'm not sure that the answer is to rapidly promote high performers (just look at the enlisted nuke community to see how that works out). There's something to be said for doing your time and getting experience. At the same time, criteria for promotion--the boxes you need to check--could stand to be more dynamic. Someone who sits down and decides which billets he needs to check the required boxes will probably have an advantage over someone who's done less conventional jobs but excelled at all of them. If there were an easy solution, someone would have found it by now.

 

[Renegade One]

Very interesting OP and thread responses. I wish someone had the time/energy/inclination to distill the best point/counterpoints into one of those "Nobody Asked Me, But…" articles for Naval Institute Proceedings. I think it would generate a lot of fruitful discussion. Probably more senior leadership reading that than are reading it here...

 

[Uncle Fester]

I can think of a couple of small changes that would help the promotion process, most of which involve the way FITREPS are done. Get rid of the numerical grading system and the whole EP/MP/etc thing, for one. It's utterly meaningless unless it's 5.0 or 2.0-or-less grades which have to be addressed and justified...so why not just address performance traits that are significatly better or worse than expected for an officer of his/her grade and experience? The grading and promotion potential blocks are strictly there to keep COs from doing across the board "all my guys are awesome" fitreps every cycle, but we all have seen what winds up happening: COs have to game and massage the numbers and rankings.

I know of one LT (not me) who did an absolutely shit-hot job one year in a billet which should normally have been cake but due to an avalanche of circumstances turned into a much bigger challenge than a new guy should have been asked to handle - and he handled it beautifully. Come fitrep time, skipper tells him he's not getting an EP because of timing and not screwing the rest of the guys and 'youve still got lots of time left in the squadron' and not wanting to show a declining trend for future fitreps where he does fine but just isn't in as challenging a job, blah blah etc. You get the idea.

"Luck and timing" winds up screwing plenty of guys who should have a shot at command, and allows some who should not be CO of a rowboat to move on and up.

I also have had the thought that maybe fitreps should not be shown to the officer being rated. I don't know if it's a good idea or not, I'm sure there's plenty of downside I haven't thought of, but here's my thinking: Still counsel them twice-yearly and all, but the fitrep itself should be intended only for promotion/screen boards. I know ideally COs should be totally honest and rate 'em as they lie, but that's just not how it happens. We have a very non-confrontational culture, especially in managment, and nobody wants to debrief a fitrep that says, "LT Joebags is a great guy in the ready room and a good stick but probably should not screen for command".

 

[smoke_screen]

Where the frustration comes in is in seeing the dumb ones make it

Yes that is annoying but those type of out-of-my-control things happen in all professional circles. For me that part was more annoying on the patriotic side of actually wanting an efficient/talented/maximized defense force.

On the selfish side, where I was personally more frustrated is on the incentives for my own work. A passable job with average responsibility has similar reward as extra hours, actually care, finding ways to be fully utilized, etc. It's mostly gamesmanship from there.

I know of one LT (not me) who did an absolutely shit-hot job one year in a billet which should normally have been cake but due to an avalanche of circumstances turned into a much bigger challenge than a new guy should have been asked to handle - and he handled it beautifully. Come fitrep time, skipper tells him he's not getting an EP because of timing and not screwing the rest of the guys and 'youve still got lots of time left in the squadron' and not wanting to show a declining trend for future fitreps where he does fine but just isn't in as challenging a job, blah blah etc. You get the idea.

Its this that drove me crazy. I get it. I understand why it is like it is. --- This happens constantly. As am ambitious person, its hard to rationalize being bridled by the politics of it when there are plenty of places that will compensate for the product they receive.

 

[BigRed389]

Regardless of whatever anybody thinks is the right answer, the thing to remember is that it's going to be run by idiots (figuratively speaking).

The current system isn't perfect, but once you get it, you can see the method to the madness. Unfortunately, it's when you get reporting seniors who don't understand how the game is meant to be played that things get AFU. Or RS's who decide to just act irrationally.

Point is, increased opportunity for "top performers" when we don't even have comprehensive objective evaluation criteria could just as easily lead to increased opportunity for those who just know how to please their bosses. So I'd think less about "if we did this we could get this cool thing" and think about "this is how we can prevent idiots from screwing up the system."