Sage or Kool-Aid Drinker: Is the author of the Article dismissing critics of the current Personnel Management System right?

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 10 Jan 2015 23:08:07 -0500

What do you think about this article? Is the author right? Is the author biased? Do you violently agree and think critics are ignorant and arrogant -or- do you think this article is dismissive? Please be professional as LTC Frost is a subject matter expert.

Click on the link to see the article http://usacac.army.mil/CAC2/MilitaryReview/repository/spotlight/spotlight.asp

Ignorance and Arrogance: Misunderstanding the Officer Personnel Management System

Published on January 5, 2015— Lt. Col. Candice Frost, "U.S. Army, commands the 304th Military Intelligence Battalion, Fort Huachuca, Arizona. Frost holds a Bachelor of Science from the United States Military Academy, and a Master of Military Arts and Sciences degree from the School of Advanced Military Studies. Her last assignment was at the Human Resources Command, and has multiple deployments to Afghanistan and Bosnia!" Lt. Col. Candice Frost

"In recent years, several personnel management publications espouse that the current Army personnel management system stifles growth and discourages talented officers from remaining in the service. The flaw in this argument pits a comparison of an overburdened bureaucratic Human Resources Command (HRC) to a more efficient private sector human resources management model. Both an ignorance of the current system and an arrogance of a failure to identify individual “talents” possessed by officers lead followers to concur with the biased argument that the current system remains paralyzed in bureaucracy. Correction of the erroneous “assumptions” requires officers, as both leaders and members of the managed Army officer population, to exercise their duty to educate themselves on the current officer distribution process and develop individual officer careers." Lt. Col. Candice Frost

Click on the link to see the article http://usacac.army.mil/CAC2/MilitaryReview/repository/spotlight/spotlight.asp

Response by CW5 Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 11 at 2015 3:01 PM

CW5 Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 15:01:09 -0500

I read the entire article, MAJ Private RallyPoint Member. I don't "violently" agree or disagree with LTC Frost; however, I would say my answer to your question is that the author is a Kool-Aid drinker. Having just come from HRC, she is probably toeing the party line.

If you don't agree with her or if you criticize the Army officer personnel management system, you're ignorant and arrogant? Please. Allow criticism, encourage criticism; that's how we make things better. And there's always room for improvement. Critically looking at systems such as this one and offering alternatives to the "way it's always been done" are ways to make improvements. Dismissing critics as arrogant and ignorant is arrogant in itself. Isn't that ironic?

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 11 at 2015 9:51 PM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 21:51:31 -0500

I know nothing of the officer promotion system, but the piece definitely rubbed my fur the wrong way. Ignorant, arrogant, and not worthy to serve in the Army if you don't agree with the way the Army does promotions? That's a little over the top!

Response by Lt Col Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 29 at 2015 11:02 PM

Lt Col Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 23:02:48 -0500

Not my service, and having a wife who is an army officer - I don't tell her how to run her service, and she doesn't tell me how to run mine (as if the AF personnel system didn't have its own problems), but in terms of the article, I'd say the author is exactly what Tim Kane was talking about in that "Bleeding Talent" book.

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 18 at 2015 1:08 PM

1LT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 18 Feb 2015 13:08:57 -0500

I think Lt. Col Frost has the wrong audience. The personnel management system is a necessary evil to satisfy federal statutes and Congress. I don't think the process was meant to be explained to soldiers. But, citing you have a system doesn't excuse you from not following best practice. You can have a process, but that doesn't gaurantee it works nor does it limit HR from seeking the right people to do the right job.

And she is probably smart enough to drink the kook-aid for a person in her position. You could find critics of the HR system anywhere in military and associate yourself with that sub group. But, I would be miserable following a cynic. I'd follow someone who believes in what she is doing though it be a beaurocratic and dull.