The army in the United States relies on the commitment, initiative and skills of its soldiers. Recognizing, recruiting, redeploying and overall talent management started since the inception of the army force in 1775. The talent management techniques used in the army dates back to the origins of the army. President Thomas Jefferson pioneered talent management in the army when he appointed Captain Meriwether Lewis to lead the North Western discovery expedition ( Haught, 2003) . In the past the army employed talent management (TM) strategies to identify appropriate leaders and assemble a suitable team for the Lewis and Clark expedition.
Years back, the army relied on Personnel Management System (OPMS) to manage soldier’s talent. The system began in 1971, after the US army college published a study on military professionalism. The talent management system utilized assignment policies, command selection procedures, school and the promotion system. The system key purpose was to improve the professional climate, identify their talent early and develop officers who are most qualified for command ( Haught, 2003) . The OPMS had the intent of allowing specialization in some technical areas without undue restrictions on schooling opportunities and promotion. The Personnel Management System intended to provide a satisfactory career for army officers who were neither specialists nor commanders.
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In 1977, Bernard W. Rogers, the Chief of Staff ordered a study entitled Review of Education and Training of Army Officers. The study’s intent was to determine officer’s talent training and education requirements based on individual career development needs and the Army’s mission. After several years of discussion, the army introduced the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act (DOPMA) in 1980. The purpose of the act was to maintain numerically sufficient and high quality corps as well as attract and retain high caliber army officers. The DOPMA legislation guided the overall talent and personnel management of army officer corps. Following the enactment of DOPMA, General Edward C. Meyer directed that the talent and personnel management policies be reviewed to assess the impact of DOPMA on officer management in the Army. The study on professional development of officers in 1983 led to the second iteration of the Officer Personnel Management System (OPMS). The study resulted in introduction of OPMS II that established a single branch development, multiple career tracks, functional areas and a revised officer classification system for talent and career management (Zook, 1996). The results of the study were ratified in 1984 while its implementation commenced in 1985. In 1989, the Leader Development Action Plan (LDAP) was ratified for execution in 1989.
In 1996, General Dennis J. Reimer, the then Chief of staff ordered a review of the Officer Personnel Management System II to determine if the talent management system would adequately support the needs of army officers into the next century (Zook, 1996). The review led to identification of 60 issues that revealed loopholes which made the system to struggle in handling new talent management requirements. Some of the highlighted issues included inventory mis-match, inadequate leader development and major personnel concerns. The Precursor Study Group (PSG) organized issues that needed to be implemented into three groupings, that is, structure and force distribution, career management, training and leader development (Zook, 1996). A new Officer Personnel Management System was approved by the Confederate States Army (CSA) which designed a new criteria for officer talent management. The new OPMS criteria was based on three steps. The first one was on enhancing army’s warfighting capability. The criteria required senior army officers to devote time in branch qualifying tasks such as operation officers and battalion executive. The second step aimed at providing officers with reasonable opportunity for success while the third emphasized on balancing grades and skill at field-grade level.
In 1996, two options for new officer talent and skill management system were designed. The first option created three career fields that is, institutional support, information operations and operations. The second option designed the operational support career field. The chief of staff however only ratified the first option. Operations Career Field (OPCF) was introduced and aimed at supporting army officers through training, education and giving them experience in Army operations. On July 9 th 1997, General Ohle provided the Confederate States Army (CSA) with the final reviewed talent and personnel management system with four career fields which was named OPMS XX1 jut was later re-named OPMS III. The new OPMS was considered optimum in championing soldier’s careers. The OPMS managed army officer’s careers by establishing policies and procedures which commissioned army officers were recruited, trained, educated and developed in a manner that enhanced soldier’s careers. The OPMS III managed the army talents by providing outstanding future leadership opportunities and a potential for professional and personal growth ( Cook, 2015) . In addition, the Officer Personnel Management System III developed the army careers by providing alternate career choices and increasing the soldier’s likelihood of promotion in non-operational fields.
The personnel management system developed tactical and operations leaders with regard to skills required with the US army enterprise. The system that was later adopted used the Officer Record Brief (ORB) to have an insight of the talents that army officers may have horned while outside the army (ASB, 2015). The talent management system however continues to be periodically reviewed to address the dynamic requirements of the 21 st century.
References
Army Science Board (ASB) (2015). Talent Management and the Next Training Revolution, Department of the Army Office of the Deputy under Secretary of the Army Washington, DC 20310-0103, retrieved from https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/1063616.pdf
Cook, B. S. (2015). Getting it right: revamping Army talent management . Naval postgraduate school Monterey ca.
Haught, D. D. (2003). Officer personnel management in the Army: Past, present and future . Army war coll Carlisle barracks pa.
Zook, M. (1996). Soldier Selection, Past, Present and Future, United States Army Research Institute for Behavioral and Social sciences, retrieved from https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a321806.pdf
