As Josh Bernoff and Charlene Li pointed out in Groundswell; the Internet is no longer a sandbox that can be walled off, it is fully integrated into all elements of business and society - including the life of many junior officers.
When Gen. B.B. Bell, commander U.S. Forces Korea, decided to block 13 popular social networking sites on May 15, 2007 a line of demarcation was drawn between senior military leaders and the junior officers largely comprised of Generation X born between 1961 and 1980 and Generation Y or Millennials born between 1981 and 2001 as defined by William Strauss and Neil Howe in their books Generations and Millennials Rising. This is only one example of the generational divide in communication and understanding, which has led to and will continue to lead to the attrition of junior officers unless something is done to bridge this gap.
Baby Boomers worked relentlessly, often sacrificing their marriages, family and personal lives as pointed out in Leonard Wong's study "Generations Apart Xers and Boomers in the Officer Corps." In his report, Wong points out that GenXers and Milennials, have deployed more than their Boomer counterparts and used social networking tools like video conferencing and Facebook to stay connected to their family and friends.
Connection to home equals comfort, comfort equals retention.
When the military started blocking those tools, it was just another example of how out of touch the senior leadership was with the needs of today's young leaders according to Mark Gebicke's essay "Military Attrition Better Data, Coupled with Policy Changes, Could help the Services Reduce Early Separation."
It's this atmosphere of mistrust that disenfranchises military youth and further accentuates the gap between senior military leaders and the Gen X Captains and Millennial Lieutenants.
I want to discuss three points in which GenX junior leaders are different from their Booker bosses.
First, unlike their Boomer bosses these young leaders are more comfortable with technology; secondly, culturally they are indifferent to race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. And finally although they work hard they demand a work-life balance that their supervisors have sacrificed for careers.
Let's look at how GenX and Boomers relate to technology.
Vice Chief of Staff Gen. John M. Keane noted in a February 15, 2000 report, that the number of captains who were leaving the military had sharply risen. This was only two years after the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel released a message expressing little concern with the attrition of junior officers.
What changed?
The Army went from downsizing in the post-Cold War era to fighting a series of wars, wars that are fought as much on the ground as it is in cyberspace.
Currently, a third of all adult 18 and older have a profile on a social network site like MySpace, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Those numbers are higher when we look at the incoming Millennials and younger GenXers - 75 percent of American adults 18 - 24 and 57 percent of 25 - 34 year olds have a profile on a social networking site, and 65 percent of American teens 12 - 17 use these same sites, according to a January 2009 memo issued by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
The fact that these young leaders are more technologically savvy might accentuate the gap in communication with senior leaders but it also makes them one of the military's greatest resources.
They are more aware of world affairs and use these tools not only to connect to friends and family while deployed, but as tools for career development, research, to multi-task and organize their ever increasing work load allowing them more time at home to watch their son play basketball or their daughter soccer.
By not allowing access to these tools the senior leadership sends a clear message that what junior officers need is unimportant, which continues to disenfranchise these officers encouraging them to leave, losing valuable resources for the military.
Serving one's country is honorable but not all defining for this younger generation of volunteer service members. Unlike their Boomer bosses born between 1946 and according to Strauss and Howe, neither GenXers nor Millennials expect to work for one employer.
That acceptance gives them the ability to envision other possibilities for themselves beyond the military.
Many 30 year olds have had an average of seven different jobs according to Peter Ronayne's paper "Getting the 'X' Into Senior Executive: Thoughts on Generation X and the Future of the SES."
Now let's look at how GenXers and Boomers differ in their views of sexual orientation. In that same paper, Ronayne points out one of the positive aspects of this "spiraling career pattern," pursuing a profession across many sectors, is the experience they gain working with a range of individuals that cover the American spectrum.
The GenXers entered a military focused on peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. The Millennials, like their grandparents' generation, believe in family, community and teamwork - they have almost institutionalized volunteerism, according to Art Fritzson, Lloyd W. Howell, Jr., and Dov S. Zakheim's paper "Military of Millennials."
They want to serve; however, not when that service includes the degradation of their peers.
An issue recently brought to light by the "firing" of First Lieutenant Daniel Choi, an Iraq war veteran and West Point Graduate, who openly admitted to being gay while serving in the New York Army National Guard, in an open letter to the president and congress and posted on CNN.com.
Many of these young leaders, who grew up with openly gay peers in high school, believe in equity and solidarity, and the U.S. military's policy on homosexuality feels inappropriate and offensive to them.
Finally, let's look at how the generations balanced work and family life. Their patriotism, coupled with an unwavering want to improve the human condition, inspires them to endure many facets of the military they feel is contrary to their belief system. But that optimism and perseverance is not infinite.
Senior leaderships dogged "careerism" and loyalty to the military is in direct opposition to the younger officer's desire for work-life balance. In Millennials Rising, Howe wrote that GenY is deeply committed to family, community, and teamwork. They volunteer at a higher rate and seek work at non-profits. They do not work for money but for a sense of community and family.
Called the "neglected generation" by M.J. Stephey in Time magazine in 2006, 13 GenX was born into a time of soaring divorce rates and working mothers. As "latchkey" children they learned to fend for themselves and developed a strong sense of self that is often misinterpreted at arrogance. However, they crave that familial connect they did not get in childhood and many have found it through their service in the military according to Wong's research.
In closing, young officers have proven that they are willing to leave a job that no longer provides what they need to develop professional or personally, according to Ronayne's research.
These young officers are an asset the military cannot afford to squander. They bring a needed sense of esprit de corps back to the services, they invigorate a stale sensibility and they demand a moral code that is higher than the military has seen in years.
If the leadership does not reconcile itself with this new generation they will continue to lose talented and inspired individuals to attrition which will create an even larger gap in institutional knowledge in the future.
The gap in communication and understanding is not insurmountable. These young officers were brought to the military by their desire to help people and their want to serve. Mentor young officers - actually listen to them. Ensure that they have the technology they need to complete their mission, amend Army policy to better reflect current law, policy, and culture and make real effort to ensure they have the time to attend the significant events in their families' lives.
Knowledge is power, we're ready to talk, are you?
(note: from a speech written by me for the PAOCQ course)
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