FA branch: manning a force in transition

FA Journal, July-August, 2004 by Dennis J. Jarosz, Raymond L. Bingham

Our nation is at war, and our Army is undergoing a fast-paced comprehensive transformation toward more agile, versatile and modular fighting formations. Manning this new force structure during this turbulent period requires branch assignment officers and professional development NCOs to revamp their procedures.

The Chief of Staff of the Army (CSA) published his "Campaign Plan," outlining a vision for transforming the force. The CSA's end state describes a capable joint expeditionary force where homesteading is encouraged, units are focused on depth of experience and Soldiers/families have more predictability, based on force stabilization (longer tours of duty).

This article provides an overview of current procedures, guidelines and considerations for FA Officer and Enlisted Branches at the Human Resources Command (HRC), Alexandria, Virginia, to man the force.

Force Stabilization. The Army has developed a new manning strategy to meet the needs of the force (increased deployment operational tempo and support for the Global War on Terrorism) and decrease personnel turbulence. Force stabilization will reduce permanent change-of-station (PCS) moves for individual Soldiers to a level much lower than today. It will benefit families by stabilizing them longer in one place and allow Soldiers to predict future training events and deployments.

Force stabilization has two components: stabilization and unit-focused stability. (See the diagram in Figure 1.) "Stabilization," as shown in the figure, is a tool for personnel managers to slow down the force and transition to the objective "unit-focused stability."

Stabilization. The Army will use this tool to manage Soldiers and officers, assign them to particular continental US (CONUS) units or installations and stabilize them for as long as feasible. It is conceivable that a Soldier/officer could serve his first six to seven years on the same installation or in the same unit. An enlisted Soldier could remain in the unit through the appropriate leader development level as a staff sergeant and an officer through the appropriate leader development level as a captain, each attending his professional development schools in temporary duty (TDY) status and returning.

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The goal of stabilization is only to PCS a Soldier/officer for designated reasons: the needs of the Army, the professional development of the Soldier/officer or Soldier's/officer's preference. Moving individual Soldiers or officers into or out of formations frequently violates the basic premise of stabilization.

Unit-Focused Stability. This tool will synchronize Soldiers/officers tours within the unit's 36-month operational lifecycle, reducing personnel turbulence.

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The unit of action (UA), a brigade-level formation, will follow the lifecycle model in Figure 2. Each UA will have an organic cannon "battalion" similar to today's direct support (DS) battalion.

Unit-focused stability will consider a unit's echelon, type, military occupational specialty (MOS) density, mission-essential task list (METL), geographical location and mission. Unit-focused stability has two components: lifecycle management and cyclic management.

* Lifecycle management is a 36-month cycle to minimize attrition in deployed units due to Soldiers' PCSing or their expiration of time in service (ETS) by planning personnel moves at the beginning of each cycle at the "Reset Phase" (see Figure 2 on Page 40). The goal is to achieve a 25 to 33 percent personnel turnover for three-year tours during Reset.

Lifecycle management focuses on the UA. Brigade commanders will manage internal turbulence due to officer education system (OES) or NCO education system (NCOES) requirements in a TDY-and-return format.

Lifecycle management has three phases: Reset (2 months). Train (four months) and Ready (30 months). During the Ready Phase, the unit will be available for deployment and continue training to maintain its C-1 Training Level.

* Cyclic management will be used to man combat support (CS), combat service support (CSS), and command and control units, focusing on headquarters elements and low-density, high-impact organizations at the division level and above, as depicted in Figure 3 on Page 40. Figure 3 shows the 12-month, two-phase cycle (Sustain-Ready) in a block of 36 months.

With these new manning tools, officer and enlisted assignment procedures and polices have changed.

Officer Manning. Officer professional management ain't what it used to be--yet the HRC remains committed to placing the right officer in the right job at the right time. The impact of today's challenges has resulted in a complete review of the culture and the parameters used to man the force. The Army's focus and guidance provided to assignment officers is aggressive and noteworthy. Figure 4 highlights the transformation of the officer assignment process. The majority of the changes are not radical; however, they are significant in scope.

As shown in Figure 4, the needs of the Army continue to be the primary assignment consideration. Although officer preference is not listed in the considerations "Now" in Figure 4, it generally is a consideration only after the other considerations listed.