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Army Has A Major Shortage, Literally

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The Washington Post

Published: August 17, 2008

WASHINGTON - The Army's growth plans and the demands of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are contributing to a shortfall of thousands of majors, critical mid-level officers whose ranks are not expected to be replenished for five years, according to Army data and a recent officers survey.

Majors plan and direct day-to-day military operations for Army battalions, the units primarily responsible for waging the counterinsurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan. Throughout the Army, majors fill key roles as senior staff members, putting together war plans, managing personnel and coordinating logistics.

The gap in majors represents about half of the Army's current shortage of more than 4,000 officers, and officials say there are no easy solutions to the deficit.

"We need more officers, and we are pulling every lever we can," said Col. Paul Aswell, chief of the Army's personnel division for officers.

Some majors predict that the gap could widen because of repeated deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Those missions, some of which have lasted more than a year, are leading many of them to plan to retire from the Army.

The Army says its data do not currently show majors or other officers leaving the force at accelerated rates.

But a recent survey of more than 400 majors at the Army's Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., indicates that could change in coming years.

"There is a tipping point that we have started to reach," said Maj. George B. Brown III, who conducted the survey and has discussed the problem with Army officials. "There is a much larger percentage of officers ... planning to get out right at 20 years, and once they are gone, they are gone."

The survey suggested that monetary incentives could be effective in persuading more majors to stay longer.

Instead, the Army's strategy is to shore up the ranks of captains, offering $35,000 bonuses and other unprecedented incentives in a program launched last year.

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