Retaining Quality JOs

Back in July of 2012, I began paying special attention to Thomas E. Ricks' blog, The Best Defense, on Foreign Policy Magazine's website.  If you haven't heard of Ricks he wrote on the U.S. military for the Washington Post from 2000 to 2008.  He is also the author of Making the Corps, Fiasco, and The Generals.  The post that caught my attention was titled, "We're getting out of the Marines because we wanted to be part of an elite force".  There were several reasons that this particular post caught my eye.  First, the title implied that Marines aren't elite.  As you might expect, this hurt my feelings/pride a little.  The second reason this caught my eye was because I too was weighing whether or not I should remain in the Marines or pursue a career outside of the Corps.

I really enjoy being a Marine.  In nearly every decision I make, I am very methodical about doing a cost/benefit analysis and coming to a determination that makes the most sense.  Time after time, I find myself coming to the conclusion that being a Marine is best for me as well as my family.  It's never very long before I find myself considering my options.

Photo by Sgt. Sarah Flocco

If you've been following the thread of blog posts by Ricks about this topic, you've seen countless JOs write in with their take on why the Marine Corps and U.S. military in general has a problem retaining talent.  Tonight, I identified another reason why I believe some Marines resign or allow their contracts to expire.  

One thing I have consistently noticed over the years is that quality Marines are constantly in demand.  Whether it is the Sergeant with a toolbox filled with a plethora of technical knowledge concerning his field or the officer who holds one of the critical MOS, it seems like good Marines constantly miss out on PME opportunities or training that would help advance their career.  This is never intentional, but as senior Marines move on the unit becomes dependent on those left with the experience and the qualifications resulting in the unit not being able to do without a particular person.  One way to avoid this is by ensuring the junior enlisted and new officers are being trained and getting qualified immediately upon checking into a new command.

As you can see, this could quickly turn into a downward spiral where new Marines aren't qualified to do a job forcing the command to become dependent on only a few.  Rather than being able to harness to the potential shown by the senior Marines, the Marines instead start counting down the days towards their end to active service (EAS) date. 

I'd like to hope that someone would tell me if they felt as though I was doing this to their careers.  Likewise, I'd like to hope that my leaders would be receptive to me if I found myself in this situation.  Other than ensuring all your men and women are trained, are there any other ways to avoid this?

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W&P