Thousands of Officers to Get Axed

[Marauder06]

I have been hearing that massive cuts are coming, but I don't have a more-authoritative source than this one.

Basically, a whole bunch of Army captains and majors in year groups 1999-2008 are going to get axed through the Officer Separation Board and Enhanced Selective Early Retirement Board processes.

I'm pretty sure we were begging some of these same officers to stay in not long ago, to the tune of $20,000 bonuses, and now we're going to cut a bunch of them loose. Good thing we're not involved in a war or anything.

 

[RackMaster]

Similar shit is going on up here but within the Non-Commissioned ranks as well.

 

[racing_kitty]

Similar shit is going on up here but within the Non-Commissioned ranks as well.

Down here, the NCO ranks are being culled with such tools as enforcement of the PT/weight standards, UCMJ for farting wrong, and the SMA's new asinine rules for tattoos and such.

 

[RackMaster]

Down here, the NCO ranks are being culled with such tools as enforcement of the PT/weight standards, UCMJ for farting wrong, and the SMA's new asinine rules for tattoos and such.

Oh that's happening as well, any way to save a buck.

 

[Polar Bear]

And history repeats itself.

 

[DA SWO]

The war is over, cut the force.
Both Bush's did it, Clinton did it, and Obama is doing it.

 

[Marauder06]

The problem is, the war ISN'T over. And our President keeps wanting to get us involved in more wars.

What is on the horizon is a 20% cut of Army captains and junior majors. Since captain is the numerically dominant rank in the Army, we're talking huge numbers of officers getting shown the door. Many of the ones who would otherwise remain in, and be good company and field grade officers, are going to bail because they have other options. This is going to leave us with many good officers, but also with many senior company grade and junior field grade officers who would either have been attritted, or would not have been in certain positions if the good officers who got out were there to compete for them. I see this more as a budget-cutting maneuver than a reaction to a decline in requirements-- because requirements aren't going down as fast as manning and budget.

 

[reed11b]

They should start at the top and work down. Not in the middle with the most tactically experienced ranks.
Reed

 

[dirtmover]

Well I suppose if we are cutting the E side of the house there will be fewer NCOs to supervise them. j/k I agree with Reed. think of all the money that we would free up if we got ride of all the GOs whose position is redundant. How many people does it take to get freaking coffee.

 

[Crusader74]

They should start at the top and work down. Not in the middle with the most tactically experienced ranks.
Reed

[sarcasm] What! cut full bird Colonels and Generals! that logic doesn't make sense..They're required to stay to make full use of their bonus's and attributed pensions [sarcasm/]

 

[Diamondback 2/2]

It becomes cheaper to keep the top level, when you cut the top, they get retirement and many of the positions have to filled, sometimes just for a interm, to shut down the department /unit.

Captain's and Major's are normally not able to retire, so the Army gives them a BS severance check and shows them the door. Same-same with JRNCO vs SRNCO.

I'm not surprised in the least bit, but just amused at how they are always putting the cart before the horse.

 

[AWP]

The problem isn't cutting Captains or SNCO's or any rank (though the herd could stand a good thinning), the problem is who will we retain? How many Swensons will stay in uniform vs. the guys and gals who sign off on nametapes and rank sown/ pinned onto reflective belts? I distinctly recall OCS in 2000 and the admonition that a safety incident would ruin our careers. We're a pretty risk adverse army right now, so imagine a return to those days. The survivors of any cuts will be those who figure out how to work the system. There were too many of their ilk while the war was ridiculously hot, now we're going to cut slots and expect the true warriors to stick around?

If anything this could be worse than the 90's when all is said and done.

 

[Viper1]

I have been hearing that massive cuts are coming, but I don't have a more-authoritative source than this one.

Basically, a whole bunch of Army captains and majors in year groups 1999-2008 are going to get axed through the Officer Separation Board and Enhanced Selective Early Retirement Board processes.

I'm pretty sure we were begging some of these same officers to stay in not long ago, to the tune of $20,000 bonuses, and now we're going to cut a bunch of them loose. Good thing we're not involved in a war or anything.

It's a fact, the Army was begging, about 2007-2009. I know because I took the bonus, as I was going to stay in anyhow.

 

[Red Flag 1]

They should start at the top and work down. Not in the middle with the most tactically experienced ranks.
Reed

There is always the buldge in the middle of the ideal "Christmas Tree " picture of rank structure. Captians, and Majors always take the big hits in the Officer Corps. The story, and forced reductions was the same post Viet Nam. The difference now it that, as Mara accurately points out, is that we are prosucuting a war. Further, again as Mara observes, there is still saber ratteling ongoing all through the region, and elsewere. If you want to see what the cost of this downsize brings, take a look at what happened to Independence-08. It will likely become more common, and our military's ability to prosecute a war will be massively hampered. Perhaps our leader(s) is/are confident that the manpower reduction can be quickly reversed if needed, like the recalls of Desert Storm. As a friend of mine often observes, "And so it goes"........; rather fitting here.