Officer Development: A Contemporary Roadmap

Army senior leaders suggest that to face the challenges of the Contemporary Operating Environment, the US Army requires a new type of officer. This multi-skilled leader, dubbed the ‘pentathlete’, will meet the challenges of the modern battlefield as a function of his maturity, experience, education, and formal training. US Army officers today, however, face a career path marked by “up or out” promotions, short tours leading and commanding soldiers, and few opportunities to seek advanced degrees in residence. Officers weather the other second and third order effects of an outdated 20-year retirement plan that does not optimize the resources dedicated to building a highly effective officer corps. When prompted to change, the US Army often looks to its own history for inspiration. Rather than take a traditional approach, the author conducted a study of army officer development among America’s five closest allies. The armies of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and Great Britain all exhibit common developmental themes and all strongly diverge from the current US model. The result of this study, an allied-inspired model for US Army officer development, may provide some suggestions for the US Army in their effort to create pentathlete officers.