February 28, 2018
DoD must consider non-traditional approaches to military service
Last week the Pentagon began to follow through with Secretary Jim Mattis’ promise to increase military “lethality” by removing all service members who have been on “non-deployable” status for more than a year.
The new policy will likely achieve its goal of reducing the number of non-deployable service members, if only by forcing them to schedule dental appointments and update personnel records. At the same time, the policy cuts against President Trump’s primary goal for the military — increasing its size. Notwithstanding these countervailing goals, the Department of Defense (DoD) already faces large hurdles to expanding the military, mainly because shockingly few Americans are both willing and able to serve.
If the administration wants to have it both ways — growing the military without sacrificing standards and simultaneously making the force leaner and more lethal — it will need to develop a fundamentally different concept of military service than currently exists.
Read the full article in The Hill.
More from CNAS
-
National Security Has a Human Capital Problem and There’s No Fast Way Out
Podcast
National security doesn’t really exist without the military forces and supporting civilians to carry it out. Recruitment remains a problem for the armed forces. And there’s a ...
By Katherine L. Kuzminski
-
The Department of Defense’s Breakthrough Nuclear Moment Risks Slipping Away
Commentary
Unless they act, the Department of Defense’s breakthrough nuclear moment may vanish before it really happens....
By Will Rogers
-
Sharper: National Security Human Capital
Commentary
U.S. national security depends on the nation’s ability to leverage the expertise of uniformed warfighters and the highly skilled civilian professionals who develop and impleme...
By Charles Horn & Taren Sylvester
-
Hegseth Brings the Culture War to Combat
Commentary
The fundamental challenge of military leadership lies in creating cohesive teams that can work together in an environment of mortal risk and, when called upon to do so, use le...
By Dr. Jason Dempsey
