"Managing" the Enlisted Force: Whisking in the Wind?

Abstract

The enlisted force will face changing roles and responsibilities as we move into the future. A central issue is whether the current management system will adequately meet these new challenges. In order to answer this question, we need a critical evaluation of how well the current system has functioned in the past. This article focuses primarily on the management of the experience and grade distribution-arguably one of the most difficult and least successful policies in the history of enlisted management. Its main thesis is that factors other than management policies and practices have had an important impact in shaping the force and that the inability to manage to stated goals may not be entirely the fault of the managers. Unless these trends are factored into future decisions regarding enlisted force management, future policies are likely to be as unsuccessful as they have been in the past.