General Rowny’s R_x For Addressing the Military’s Growing Personnel Crisis

(Washington, D.C.): Over the past nearly six decades, one of the Nation’s most
distinguished
military officers, Lieutenant General Edward Rowny (USA Ret.), has turned his considerable
energies to the service of his country in a number of different capacities. As a decorated combat
commander, as a diplomat and as an advisor to President Reagan on arms control, he has helped
advance the national security in innumerable ways.

Today, in his retirement, Gen. Rowny is doing so once again by offering valuable counsel
about
the present and growing crisis in personnel recruitment and retention afflicting his beloved Army
and, to varying degrees, the other armed services. In an important essay in this month’s edition
of The Retired Officer Magazine, the official publication of The Retired Officers’
Association,
the General offers timely suggestions about ways in which the yawning shortfalls in qualified
men and women in uniform can be redressed.

Should Regular Commissions Be Restored to ROTC Distinguished
Service Graduates and
Service Academy Graduates?

By Lt. Gen. Edward L. Rowny, USA-Ret.

The Retired Officer Magazine,December
1999

P.L. 102-190 does profound damage to a proven, highly competitive system that, for nearly
two
centuries, has provided the professional backbone of the armed forces and produced many great
leaders who have served our nation in war and peace.

The system resulting from this legislation destroys what has been a dynamic incentive a
badge
of honor an appointment as a regular officer for ROTC DMGs and service academy graduates.
This powerful enticement has influenced many graduates toward a lifetime dedicated to the
military service of our country. As a result of this law, all newly commissioned officers
regardless of whether they hail from a service academy, the Officer Candidate School, or an
ROTC program now receive initial appointments as Reserve officers and must serve nine to 12
years to be considered for a regular commission.

The long journey to that time of decision will now come to a crucial fork in the road the
completion of five years of obligatory service. During these years, new officers will have no
clear promise of a full military career as a reward for loyal and efficient performance. Their
service, therefore, will be tempered by nagging thoughts of whether to continue to serve in the
armed forces or opt for a civilian career.

At this five-year juncture, one should expect a large number of well-educated, potential
leaders,
without an assured future in the military or the feeling of “belonging” that has previously existed
until now, to leave the armed services. Others, not being assured a 30-year career until they have
served nine to 12 years, will swell the numbers of those leaving active service. The exodus of
those with the greatest promise will be a severe loss to the services and to the country.

With the end of the Cold War and the shrinking size of the armed forces, as well as the
changing
threats to our national security, it is more important than ever that we maintain a cadre of
professional regular officers at all grades. This will ensure a smooth expansion should a crisis,
which history has shown is inevitable, occur.

This legislation fails to recognize the requirement for a highly professional corps of officers
upon
which to expand. The effect of the law is both to degrade the quality of the officer corps and
military leadership required for a smaller armed force to maintain stability and deprive us of a
cadre upon which to expand should our vital interests be jeopardized.

Two years ago, a letter signed by Gens. Andrew J. Goodpaster, USA-Ret., the former
supreme
allied commander; H. Norman Schwarzkopf, USA-Ret., the leader of the U.S. Central Command
during the Persian Gulf War; Gordon Sullivan, USA-Ret., former Army chief of staff; and me
was sent to the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. It pointed out the harm that
this law would do to our country.

The chairman replied that it would take a number of years to amass statistics to prove that
this is
so. It is the cosignatories’ firm belief that our nation should not be obligated to wait until the
damage becomes obvious. The system was not broken and didn’t need fixing.

The law was hastily imposed on the services by a handful of senators with little study and no
debate. The only reason given for its enactment was that it would “level the playing field.” Under
the former system, approximately 50 percent of the newly commissioned regular officers came
from the service academies and the other 50 percent from ROTC programs.

Approximately one in 11 of the applicants to the service academies were accepted, and of
this
number, an additional one in four were eliminated prior to graduation. The ROTC programs had
comparably selective criteria. Consequently, approximately one in 10 graduates received regular
commissions. Thus, the playing field was already level and produced a highly effective officer
corps committed to lifetime careers of service. In the current vernacular, P.L.102-190 is
“dumbing down” the quality of the officer corps and should be repealed.

Lt. Gen. Edward L. Rowny, USA-Ret., graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in
1941. In
1949, he earned two master’s degrees from Yale University and, in 1977, a Ph.D. from American
University. Rowny’s many accomplishments include commander of the 24th Infantry Division
and I Corps in Korea, deputy chairman of the NATO Military Committee, and special advisor for
arms control, with the Rank of ambassador, to Presidents Reagan and Bush.