U.S. captains bear weight of Iraq strategy, leaving military in droves

[babylonsister]

U.S. captains bear weight of Iraq strategy
By Michael Kamber
Published: March 21, 2008


snip//

Many in the military believe that these captains are the linchpins in the American strategy for success in Iraq, but as the war continues into its sixth year the military has been losing them in large numbers — at a time when it says it needs thousands more.

Most of these captains have extensive combat experience and are regarded as the military's future leaders. They're exactly the men the military most wants. But corporate America wants them too. And the hardships of repeated tours are taking their toll, tilting them back toward civilian life and possibly complicating the future course of the war.

"I have served my time; I've done two tours in Iraq," said Captain Kirkner Bailey, 26, of the Third Armored Cavalry Regiment in Mosul.

"For the past three years of my life I have either been in Iraq or training to go to Iraq," he added. "I just know that there is more to life than this war, and my girlfriend, Shannon, and I are interested in finding out what that is."

"I can't speak to trends," he said. "But 8 of my 10 friends who are captains are leaving the army."

more...

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/21/africa/21captain.php?page=1

[Igel]

1. " 'I can't speak to trends' "

No, the captain couldn't. And didn't need to. We're left with 8 out of 10 as the 'fact', with the assumption being we'll generalize that anecdote to mean data.

But the reporter could have spoken to the trend, using the relevant statistics. And should have to make the point. After all, I'm sure the stats are available, and not all that hard to understand.

After all, I remember seeing stats from 2006, IIRC, that showed a consistent year-over-year increase from around 2003 in the numbers of West Point officers and middle-rank captains in general that were leaving the military. They quoted people concerned about the loss of expertise. Something had to be done in order to keep the number of captains leaving from destroying the Army from the inside out, no organization could tolerate the loss of trained officers like that.

There was a response, citing the same sources, to be honest. The response took a longer time period and showed a fair number of middle-rank officers leaving in the late '90s and early '00s, with a drop off after 2001 and then 2003, only to have the numbers (and percentages) creeping up by 2004 and 2005. The terrible numbers from 2005 hadn't reached the magnitude of what were apparently quite pleasant numbers from 1999 yet (IIRC), for all the venting. There was concern in 1999 over the loss of captains on the part of the military. But only on the part of the military--and it was no less than in 2005/06.

I wonder what the percentages are now and how they compare with each year's numbers going back to 1995.