A July 8 Outlook item misstated the second initial name of a brigade commander in Baghdad who wrote a memorandum about why captains are leaving the Army. His name He is Col. J.B. Burton, not J.R. Burton.
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One of the Army's biggest worries is the high number of captains who are leaving rather than making a career of military service. In this memo written in May, Col. J.R. Burton, a brigade commander now fighting in Baghdad, tells his superior officers what he thinks is causing the exodus and explains why he thinks the recent offer of a $20,000 bonus to stay in the Army isn't the solution:
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SUMMARY: This is a very tough crowd of Warriors. They have been ridden hard. Some have been involuntarily extended on their first duty assignment to their fourth year on Active Duty and are now serving on their 2nd or 3rd Combat Deployment. They see no end in sight, so our offerings should acknowledge this group specifically that has been caught up fully in the deployment cycle.
They joined willingly when the vast majority of their civilian peers did not. They are our Nation's modern "300" but they are also young men and women with personal goals, aspirations and desires. They see themselves destined to be at war for the rest of their careers, while their Civilian peers are moving on with their lives.
They see that they represent a small portion of the Army's Officer Corps that has actually deployed to fight this war, and they are frustrated by the knowledge that the majority of their peers may not have deployed thus far. They have spent the past 4 years in a continuous cycle of fighting, training, deploying, fighting, etc. and they see no end in sight. They have seen their closest friends killed and maimed leaving young spouses and children as widows and single parent kids.
They want time for themselves and time to raise families for awhile. When they look forward to a 15th month deployment, with 12 months in-between, they see their 'home-station' time as being compressed, intensified training which means more time away from families and personal pursuits.
Its not about the money . . .
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Tom Ricks is The Post's military correspondent. This feature aims to give readers a snapshot of the conversations about Iraq, Afghanistan and other matters that play out in Ricks's e-mail inbox. Have an interesting document? Send it to TheInbox@washpost.com
