A History of the U.S. Army Officer Corps, 1900-1990

The Army's Office of Economic and Manpower Analysis published a series of monographs that were intended to provide a theoretical and conceptual framework for the development of an Army Officer Corps Strategy. These monographs consider the creation and maintenance of a highly skilled Officer Corps in the context of the nation's continuing commitment to an all-volunteer military, its far flung international interests, and ongoing changes in its domestic labor market. The authors contend that the confluence of these factors demands a comprehensive Officer Corps strategy recognizing the interdependency of accessing, developing, retaining, and employing talent. In their view, building a talent-focused strategy around this four-activity human capital model would best posture the Army to match individual officer competencies to specific competency requirements.