Why I left the Army I loved after 7 years
West Point and the Army never had a real draw for me growing up. Frankly, I was more interested in the Coast Guard Academy, having grown up near the ocean, sailing and scuba diving from a young age. But Military Academies held a certain romance. Leaving one’s home to study and focus on a very specific set of skills, while completing an Engineering Degree, the offer to participate in fencing, horseback riding, shooting, sports, military exercises, and rappelling down cliffs; all held a certain romance for me. When I was approached by a neighbor graduate of the Academy, he instilled a fire in me for the Army. He had been a Ranger in Viet Nam and had some legendary stories behind him. Look up” Jack Price” and “Pulitzer Prize” together to read part of his story.
In addition to my love of the Ocean, I was also very much an outdoors person. Rock climbing, outdoor survival, camping, all of which said that being a ground pounder (Army) would be a great career. Not to mention, travel to other countries, serving a noble cause (as in the defense of the US), with a solid career path.
Once I got into Active Duty, I was bright-eyed and full of expectations for the career that lay before me. And over the years, I was progressing as I had expected.
By the time I reached the seven-year mark, I had had an overseas tour (Germany, Lance Missiles, managing a portion of the US Nuclear Defense System, Battalion Intelligence Officer). I had also served as a Battery Commander at Ft Sill and was teaching in the Gunnery Department of Ft Sill. All of these assignments were extraordinarily rewarding – “The Best Job in the World.“
When I had been a cadet, I had been overtly identified by the Earth Space & Geographical Sciences Department to return to the department as a Professor. COL Kirby, who subsequently made his legacy by bringing Geography, Intelligence, and Computer technology concepts to the Army had taken a personal interest in me for the vision he had both for the Academy and the Army Intelligence Community. In pursuit of the right credentials for Graduate School, I took the GRE exam. I scored high enough on the GRE to statistically be placed in any Ph.D. program (let alone a Master’s Degree program). All of this is to reinforce a point. I was in a job I loved, with a very solid base behind me for positive advancement forward with something I was damned good at.
So my path forward was;
Having satisfied the pre-requirements to be eligible to teach at West Point, I would:
Apply to Graduate School
Teach at West Point
Apply to Graduate School
Teach at West Point
Be Promoted
Continue my career in the Army ending up with a Retirement
During the process of reaching out to West Point, Grad Schools, and moving from my current assignment (Gunnery Department at Fort Sill, OK) the Army (MILPERCEN), determined 2 things:
1) I was trying to “game the system” because I asked Ft Sill to release me (who would agree if I got acceptance from WP) and I asked WP to move on my Master’s application (who agreed once I was released from Ft Sill). MILPERCEN thought that because I was doing this simultaneously, I was scamming them.
2) The Army had “Other Needs”. They wanted to appoint a woman to the academy. The Math Department had an opening and the West Point assignment was closed to me.
MILPERCEN then told me that they had a “need” for someone to go to Recruiting Command, posted in Nebraska. Don’t get me wrong. Nebraska is a great state, and Recruiting would be a cush job. But I was entering a critical crux in my career timeline. My next assignment would be the time span in which I would be considered for promotion to Major. Command and General Staff College was also a major part of this next timeline. CGSC, as it is known, has two paths; in-person and correspondence. It was well known that the in-person course was key for one’s ongoing career, fostering relationships, exposure to higher level officers that could influence one’s career, etc.
But if one is not promoted to Major in the first round, because of an invisible job/assignment, or performance, one takes the correspondence course. When I questioned MILPERCEN, I was told that the correspondence course for CGSC “would be fine.” In the words of our beloved uniform tailors at West Point, “Itta fitta good.“
Away from the flagpole, in a second-rate job, I was likely to be promoted in the second round to major, would not attend CGSC at Leavenworth; out of sight, out of mind.
Because I would not likely get to the in-person CGSC course, I was likely to not be promoted in the first round to Lieutenant Colonel. Because of that, I would never see Battalion Command, and would likely retire as an LTC pouring coffee for Colonels at the Pentagon. I would retire having served my country but as a staff officer, and not as the hard-charging warrior I aspired to be.
The Army was one of the most rewarding jobs I have had. The Romance, resume-building, leadership, and education of USMA were visceral and real. My jobs in the Army were action-packed and rewarding.
I wanted to stay and command larger units. But the writing was on the wall for me.
I made the decision to leave and see if I could beat the Army’s retirement offering in the civilian world with work that was rewarding and meaningful. It is somewhat sad, upon reflection that once the “career” was taken away, all I had to look forward to was a retirement check.
So I left – and helped design the first computer system for Command and Control for the Army with a company called TRW. Since then I have worked on command and control-type systems that serve the military, law enforcement, and emergency management, all of which have allowed me to place my thumbprint – but not while serving in the military.
What does the Army need to focus on, if they want to retain young officers and soldiers? The Army needs to:
1) Reinvigorate the “Romance” – “It’s not just a job, it’s an adventure” still holds true, but the advertising message needs to be followed up with reality in experience.
2) Make young officers feel like they are doing something of value, contributing to a real, noteworthy cause; and
3) Create a culture where officers are truly valued. The Army needs to satisfy its needs, but not caring for the needs and aspirations of the Officer will most certainly cause the officer to move on.
Tom Hughes is a 1980 graduate of the US Military Academy. He was a Field Artillery Officer and has spent the last 40-plus years working on systems that support the military, public safety, and emergency management. He is still an outdoorsman having spent 48 years with the National Ski Patrol and teaching mountaineering and rope rescue courses. Tom has not yet retired – but will likely retire soon.
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I was in a similar position with the Air Force. Jets were going away and Staff Jobs were imminent. I, in person, visited our Assignments folks at TAC HQ, with flight gear in hand and made them call AF Assignments in San Antonio. They all knew who I was, and I told them I would go anywhere flying F-4s that day. I would have my wife send my goods to wherever it was. They said it wasn’t possible. I told them I knew they were going to give some poor guy his 5th choice while I would make their stats look good. They deferred. I went home applied to Law School and helped the GA ANG convert from the F105 to the F-4. Got into Emory Law. Went back to Homestead and the Assignment folks came up with a great new assignment. One I would have taken easily, before. I deferred. Stayed with the Guard for 11 more years and it was a wonderful part time job. Practiced Law for 35 and enjoyed it as well. Their loss, not mine.
Similar circumstances for me. My failing was that I finished company command on the GDP AND pcs’d to a desk job AT FLVN on the day that Iraq invaded Kuwait, and I was trapped there for the next two+ years, effectively missing the only war of my short career as an infantry officer. Writing was on the wall. But, on 9-11 I wrote
To Shinseki “I’m not sure what you plan to do about this, but I want to be a part of it. My ruck is packed and I’m ready to go.” They must have been desperate because I got mobilized and then recalled. Spent several years in the sand making them happy to have me back.
Just call me “lucky.”
Tom, I had no idea our military experiences were so similar. I also was in the situation where I was trying to return to the military Academy as an instructor after being a battery commander at Fort Sill. I also got some blow back from a person in my rating chain for making it known that I would like to be a West Point instructor. A DOD civilian who was my rater actually told me that he gave me a lower rating for requesting a “careerist job” instead of going after a combat unit position. My senior rater gave me a top notch rating and wrote a letter of recommendation as well. That made no difference, the damage was done. Since I had a wife who disliked Army life (and me 😏), opting out was the path of least resistance, and frankly, of significantly greater financial reward. I did my command time and resigned. I think the Army’s OER system, which heavily penalizes people for the slightest imperfection in their rating, is a bureaucrat’s dream, and a hard-charging officer’s nightmare. My father said when he was in, OERs were only kept for the previous five years. That ensured that one mistake, or one bad rating, did not follow an officer around forever. Seems reasonable. However, unless the general officer corps starts doing a tremendously better job, the US military is doomed to mediocrity or worse.