The Pentagon’s ‘Force of the Future’ Plan Just Got Trashed in Congress
The Pentagon's 'Force of the Future' Plan Just Got Trashed in Congress by Leo Shane III, Military Times
Defense officials' hopes for sweeping personnel reforms were crushed by Senate Republicans on Thursday who attacked the ideas as “an outrageous waste of time” and the Pentagon’s pick to implement them as unfit to serve.
Brad Carson, the nominee to serve as undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness for nearly 11 months, received blistering criticism from members of the Senate Armed Services Committee for his work over the past year on the Force of the Future plan, work aimed at updating the military’s personnel system to better compete with civilian business benefits.
The 49-year-old former congressman and Iraq War veteran worked as the personnel office’s acting head for most of 2015, becoming the public face for the reform plans. But senators accused him of presuming confirmation and failing to inform them about the proposed historic changes, many of which would require dramatic legislative changes.
“I find it deeply disturbing that you are proposing to add expensive fringe benefits allegedly aimed at retention during a time when we are asking 3,000 excellent Army captains to leave the service who would have otherwise chosen to remain on active duty,” said Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz…
