Was the purging of approx 200 capable senior officers necessary and what impact, if any, has it had on the Officer Corps?

Capt Jeff S. — Sun, 21 Sep 2014 06:21:46 -0400

Although the article was written last year, it does highlight a potential problem area that our military has had to deal with. Is 200 senior officers too many to fire? Does this indicate a problem in leadership or a problem with leadership?

‘Purge surge’: Obama fires another commander

WASHINGTON – After multiple top generals described to WND what they regard as a full-scale “purge” of the U.S. military by the Obama administration, the commander of U.S. Army Garrison Japan was summarily relieved of duty and his civilian deputy reassigned, pending a “misconduct” investigation.Nine generals and flag officers have been relieved of duty under [...]

Response by LTC Jason Strickland made Sep 21 at 2014 8:33 AM

LTC Jason Strickland — Sun, 21 Sep 2014 08:33:11 -0400

Across the board cuts are difficult - no matter what organization and no matter what level the personnel. However, in large bureaucracies - such as the DoD - it's the simplest way to achieve the intended results.
The DoD has continued to inflate the senior officer ranks that is disproportional to the service members they command. The problem was WITH leadership, to answer your question, Capt Jeff S..

Response by CPT Larry Hudson made May 3 at 2020 11:12 AM

CPT Larry Hudson — Sun, 03 May 2020 11:12:52 -0400

My observation of the forced retirement of flag officers was to politicize the military. Obama replaced many capable officers who could say no, to a officer corps of deep state yes officers. As to battalion and company grade officers, it is appropriate to draw down the officer corps to acceptable levels r ratios with number of enlisted military.

Response by Maj Private RallyPoint Member made May 3 at 2020 12:17 PM

Maj Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 03 May 2020 12:17:56 -0400

Corporate America conducts purges of senior leaders all the time, sometimes it is by design and sometimes for necessity. Rotate the stock I say. A few years ago the Marine Corps was super too heavy at the O-6 level and it impacted promotions and upward mobility because the Colonels were just sitting around as long as they could. If I purge 200 senior field grades, that is opening up budget for more trigger pullers.