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I read something this morning that made me feel that nasty feeling you get when someone tells you a family member died. CNN ran an article about Caleb Campbell, a West Point graduate who will be forced to serve his 5-year commitment despite being drafted by the Detroit Lions. The rationale cited is basically, "That’s what he signed up for. That’s his commitment." While I can’t argue with that, I can argue against the leadership making the call.
First, let me establish my credibility on the subject. I am a West Point graduate, class of 2001. I served the 5 years to which I committed and during that commitment I deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Back during my cadet days, West Point established a relationship with the NSA, the Naval Academy, and the Air Force Academy to have a "Cyber Defense" competition and trophy. Basically, the 3 academies would go head-to-head with the NSA’s most elite hackers in a two phase competition: hack, and then be hacked.
I was a computer science major and a part of this competition. My team won that year and the NSA told another cadet and me that we were welcome to go work for them if we could get the Army to release us. This was a dream come true. Where else could the nation’s military academy send its top computer science graduate to best serve his country than with the nation’s top electronic warfare and defense team? If you’re thinking the NSA, you’re wrong.
The Army kept me. No big deal, right? Surely they’d note my talent and exploit it in the best manner possible. Nope. Not even a little bit. Instead they sent me to 4 worthless (and I mean that in the truest sense of the word) months of training at Fort Gordon, GA, and then to be the communications officer for a unit at Fort Carson, CO. I was literally in charge of making sure about 50 radios worked and parts were ordered. Oh, and I had 10 people under me to help me do this amazingly difficult task. What a waste of talent.
Let’s return to Caleb. Here we have a man who has achieved near perfection in one aspect of life. Not only has he successfully endured arguably the most challenging college experience America has to offer, he has the chance to be "the" Army guy in the NFL. He has a chance to be the hope and dream of every heart wearing a US Army uniform. He has the chance to be a hero, up on a pedestal for every solider to see and admire. He has the chance be living proof the Army will support you to rise above the ranks and pursue your dreams when you display exceptional performance. But you know what he’ll probably be instead? Disappointed.
Consider yourself and your leadership decisions. What would you do if you hired a diner bus boy and found out he was a great chef? A school janitor and found out he knew complex mathematics? A solider and found out he was a great athlete? An inventory manager and found out he could hack the NSA’s best? What would you do if given the authority? I’m sure the answer would be clear: you’d put the best man where he can have the biggest/best impact. You’d better your organization. You’d deal with the politics of those who might say it’s not fair he gets special treatment. You’d make an exception and back it up.
The Army disagrees. All new lieutenants are created equal. There is truly communism within military ranks. It’s an interesting concept, so let’s see what it got the Army using me as a case study. They got a day-1 officer who was immediately bitter about the whole organization and the failed NSA deal. They got a guy who made it known to all he had no intentions of staying past 5 years. They got a guy to whom they didn’t give a leadership position for his last 1.5 years because he was "on his way out." They turned a 4-year education and 5-year commitment into a 3-year return on investment and took a 2-year loss during my idle time while in training or useless positions. Now, 7 years after graduation, rather than having a rising leader within the NSA or the Army, the Army only has my contact information in case they need to reach me in San Francisco where I happily reside as an honorably discharged veteran, working for and with people who employ me for what I do best. Corporate America is cashing in on the talent the Army couldn’t see.
The Army needs to open its eyes. It thinks it knows about leadership, but it often confuses leadership with authority. Rules have their place, but any good leader knows there are exceptions. Young leaders are walking away from the Army in droves. Lieutenant Caleb Campbell is just one person. The Army can flex its muscle and keep him, but it should be aware there are thousands of other young leaders watching this unfold. They can control the duty assignments of these young officers, but they can’t control their perceptions about the Army. For the young officers who are like myself, this will be just one of many events confirming their decision to get out as soon as possible. Whether true or not, they will perceive Army leadership as a crippled bunch of old men bound to asinine rules and not wise enough to know when to break them.
It’s a volunteer force and officers are smart. You can’t beat down a smart volunteer and expect him to come back for more. I’ve never met an officer who walked away because of the fear of death or the challenge of service, but I know dozens who cite poor leadership as their top reason. Perhaps it’s too late to reverse the fate of Lt. Campbell, but the problem stems well beyond him or me. Rather than ostracizing the exceptions, Army leaders should embrace them. They are the best. The deserve to be on a pedestal for others to see and aspire to be. My advice to Army leaders: stop shunning your talent that doesn’t come in the form of a person wanting to lead an infantry platoon into combat. There is far more to the Army than that.
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Flashing Back with the Wayback Machine by VnutZ :: NR10 :: Show
The CyberDefense exercise, of which markmcb writes, was touched on in "Computer Security and National Defense; with a short tale of my own bitterness in the comments.
You are entirely correct. I actually had read this story on CNN’s website this morning and my first thought was what an enormous PR mistake the decision is. Unless I am mistaken, the Air Force doesn’t have problems like this. When I left the Army, the first thing I did was head over to an Air Force recruiting station to see if I could join their reserves. Right off the bat, the recruiter asked me if I was prior service to which he followed up with, "I hate to disappoint you, but we don’t take service transfers from the Army, Navy or Marines … we don’t have manpower problems." Imagine that, a military service that is soooo strong on personnel they can turn even away experienced leaders. The Army could definitely start by looking at its own offspring as a starting point to figure out what a working model might look like (if you don’t know, the Air Force is a bastardization of the Army Air Corps which itself originated in the Army Signal Corps).
Special treatment? by Anonymous :: NR0 :: Show
Why is it that everyone wants special treatment? Yeah, from your perspective your talent was wasted, and his talent will be wasted. But from the perspective of what the mission of the Army is, it may actually have been the best place for your talents. Or are you saying that you didn’t do as good a job at your post as someone with less talent/training/intelligence would have? I’m willing to bet that the people who used your radios knew they could depend on them – that they were not maintained by some lackey just barely getting by, but someone who knew more than what they were doing and kept everything in top-notch condition without higher costs.
Further, they did use you to your fullest potential – on the competition. What makes you think they have a better place to put you than the one they chose? Why should they let you go when they do have a place to put you, even if it’s not as good as some other employer’s position, it’s not like they’re going to throw you away just because another employer can use the skills they trained into you and your natural abilities.
The army is a big organization – by definition they cannot use everyone, individually, to their fullest potential. So they use them as best they can.
Though I don’t know why I’m bothering to comment – this is typical "genius complex" – you think you’re different and special, and thus deserve different and special treatment beyond what "mere mortals" receive.
Get over yourself. Do your job. If you don’t like it, then don’t sign up again. If your employer can’t use you to your fullest potential, then find a new employer that can and will.
Of course, I imagine the hypocrisy you must exhibit – do you put every object you own to its fullest potential, or do you use your tools when you need them, and ignore them otherwise? In the army you are a resource, just as your computer is a resource to you. Your computer could be doing so much more right now than what it’s doing – why aren’t you donating it to a worthy cause and getting something that just barely meets your basic needs? Oh? You paid for it, and so you feel you should be able to use it in whatever manner you so deem?
Yeah, people are more complex than simple ‘objects’ and ‘resources’ but the base principle is the same.
You signed a contract. Complain all you want, but your bitterness is your own – it’s not due to something they did or didn’t do. They kept their end of the contract YOU signed.
-Adam
Another 10 Years Of Losing Seasons by RyanDK :: NR0 :: Show
It’s been over a decade since Army Football last had a winning season (’96 to be exact). Back in January the Superintendent of West Point, LTG Hagenbeck, sent an email to all Army football fans outlining changes he is implementing to the football program to ensure more success.
A couple of the big changes were to shorten Cadet Field Training during the second cadet summer for football players and to allow football players to lighten their academic load by moving classes from their first semester to summer.
I completely agree with these changes if Army is ever going to seriously compete in Division 1. But in light of the situation with Caleb Cambell, the changes probably will not matter because any top high school athlete with NFL aspirations will be going to the school that will whip Army.
Sit back and get ready for another decade of 2 and 3 win seasons. We might even tie our own record for worst season in NCAA history, 0-13.
title by jmarkdavison :: NR7 :: Show
In the case of Caleb Campbell, the DoD messed up big-time, and they also screwed the WP football program and thus the school’s reputation.
What’s more, the Army had created a program where guys like this could enhance USMA’s and Army’s image by playing pro sports and then they’d be reserve recruiters. I believe they created this policy in the last year, with this guy in mind. Now they pull the rug out from under him.
My understanding is the Army was ok with Campbell playing for the Lions, then the Dept. of Defense overrruled the Army and made them send this guy to active duty.
In the case of our resident IT geniuses (genii?), I have to agree with Adam’s point. West Point exists to produce Army officers, so letting Matt and Mark go to the NSA doesn’t really meet that intent. The Signal Corps needed SIG-Os and PLs and XOs and A/S-3s, so that’s where they stuck you.
Guys, if you wanted to be NSA, you should have gone to a civilian school, or quit after your 2nd year [like we all should have :)]. OR you could have done your five years and then gone to work for the NSA. Shame on them for getting your hopes up. At least you weren’t Caleb Campbell reporting to training camp on a policy the Army created and signed you up for, then finding out the DoD changed the rules.
That said, I agree the Army could do a better job managing talent, at least at the LT-to-CPT level where I spent my five years. But I did the Cameron-Brooks corporate transition and wound up at a great company in a development position too, and the talent management system was eerily similar to that of the Army: work for someone with some pull (LTC or VP), he likes you, recommends you to his peers/superiors, you get moved up. Our Human Resources dept., which in corporate world is officially charged with talent management, did nothing with me or for me. So it’s not really unique to the Army, and I imagine every gov’t agency is the same way vis-a-vis talent management.
Mark, don’t sell short your five years of Army service- I am sure you learned a lot and developed skills that enabled you to end up where you did. What’s more, your soldiers no doubt benefited from your leadership. Maybe you even saved a few lives.