Washington – Young Army officers, including growing numbers of captains who leave as soon as their initial commitment is fulfilled, are bailing out of active-duty service at rates that have alarmed senior officers.
Last year, more than a third of the West Point class of 2000 left active duty at the earliest possible moment, after completing the initial five-year obligation.
It was the second year in a row of worsening retention numbers, apparently marking the end of a burst of patriotic fervor during which junior officers chose continued military service at unusually high rates.
Mirroring the problem among West Pointers, graduates of reserve officer training programs at universities are also increasingly leaving the service at the end of the four-year stint in uniform that follows their commissioning.
To entice more to stay, the Army this year is offering new incentives, including a promise of graduate school on Army time and at government expense to newly commissioned officers who agree upfront to stay in uniform for three extra years. Other enticements include the choice of an Army job or the pick of a desirable location for a home post in exchange for an extra three years in uniform.
The incentives resulted in additional three-year commitments from about one-third of all new officers entering active duty in 2006, a number so large that it surprised even the senior officers in charge of the program.
But the service’s difficulty in retaining current captains has generals worriedly discussing whether the Army will have the widest choice for its next leaders.