US Army short on junior officers

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2007

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US Army is experiencing a shortage of junior officers at a time when it is expanding to meet demands of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, its acting civilian chief said Tuesday.

Pete Geren, testifying to be confirmed as secretary of the army, said the shortfall has mainly resulted from a reorganization that is replacing divisions with more numerous combat brigades.

But he said retention rates of captains and majors have slipped "a little bit from historic norms."

Of the army's officer corps, the junior officers typically are most directly exposed to combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, with all its attendant dangers and stresses.

Besides signaling possible morale problems, declining retention could play havoc with the army plans to...