DHS and Army Retention

This is a tongue in check comment, but it shows how careless words by our Federal Government (by any organization, for that matter) can upset the folks who are doing the hard work.

The following blog post is real:

MAJ Gary John Spivey said:
Sir, as a member of class 08-02 (but not presuming to speak for my class) I'd say that my top two reasons for staying in are Job satisifaction followed closely by quality of life for my family.

In the absence of those two, a monetary bonus would help appease things nicely.  Or maybe asking the DHS to NOT consider me an extremist and a possible threat against my own government (sorry Sir, could not resist the dig)

April 17, 2009 9:53 AM

The "Sir" he addresses is Lieutenant General William Caldwell, the Commander of the Army's Combined Arms Center, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and thus Major Spivey's boss while he (Major Spivey) is at Command and Staff College.

The other thing, besides the humor, is that a number of Army general officers are prepared to go live on the web and present ideas and ask for comments.  This LTG Caldwell did, with regard to retaining Army majors, one of those key transitional ranks that need to be filled so the Army can find the best to be Battalion Commanders—a lieutenant colonel job, the next rank up.

The original post by "Frontier 6" (LTC Caldwell), and the comments, can be found here.

I think that leaders in Government and Industry should be active bloggers.  I don't think it has hurt Lowell's City Manager, Bernie Lynch.  Rather, it has helped the City.  And, the same goes for Fort Leavenworth and for the Army's 10th Mountain Division.

Regards  —  Cliff