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Brad Carson, acting undersecretary for personnel and readiness, notes there is little opportunity now for citizens in “dual-use skills,” such as cyber, advance signal, space technology and intelligence, to enter the military “laterally” into ranks or pay grades appropriate for their knowledge and experience. Instead, they must enter as O-1s (ensign or second lieutenant) or no higher than E-4 (petty officer third class, corporal or senior airman) as enlisted specialists.

Service branches understandably want “to prevent lateral entry candidates from assuming command roles without proper development,” the proposal explains. Yet current barriers to entry, and to retaining technical expertise, are troubling, it says, given the “proliferation of high technology in warfare.”

Some of the military’s “greatest tactical and technical talent” is being underused and underdeveloped, Carson’s proposal argues, because personnel must compete for command or critical assignments to advance. That raises personnel costs because technical experts “are promoted out of the rank at which they can perform in jobs for which they are ideally suited and would prefer to make a career.”

One example given is exceptional combat aviators who don’t want to command squadrons, yet must compete for promotion to stay in service. Likewise, many technical experts have a passion to keep working in their fields rather than supervise others.

If Carter embraces the technical career track solution, he would order each service to designate no fewer than five branches, occupational specialties or career fields to be “dual track,” with one toward command and the other to hone technical ability. The services would identify an appropriate point in each career field where personnel would choose, or even compete, to stay in their current grade or position based on technical proficiency. Technical tracks would be exempt from promotion and command selection boards. In lieu of “up-or-out” pressure, they would face “perform-or-out” hurdles. Because they would be frozen in grade, they would get automatic pay raises based only on years in service.

Assuming 250 personnel enter the track from each of five career fields selected by the services, “this reform could yield over $100 million in base compensation savings alone” over its first five years, the proposal estimates. If the number of personnel in each technical track grew to 1,000, total savings on personnel could exceed $1.7 billion within five years.

Lawrence J. Korb, a senior fellow with the Center for American Progress and former Pentagon manpower chief in the Reagan administration, said lateral entry by way of a technical track “makes a great deal of sense.”

Carter’s Force of the Future, Korb said, might be the most radical overhaul of the military personnel system attempted since launch of the all-volunteer force. That Congress this year is moving to modify retirement for the future force could signal that other long-sought reforms are possible, he said.

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