Brian McAllister Linn – “A Historical Perspective on Today’s Recruiting Crisis”

This podcast analyzes the US Army’s successive recruiting crises, identifying their consistent patterns and the efforts to resolve them, and makes three provocative arguments. First, there is a long-standing institutional tension between recruiting personnel for the combat arms and technical and administrative specialists. Second, many of today’s talent management problems were first identified in a 1907 General Staff report and reiterated in subsequent studies. Third, the Army has pursued innovative recruitment strategies, but much of their success depended on factors outside the service’s control. The podcast concludes with four history-based recruiting lessons and an affirmation that the 2019 Army People Strategy recognizes the need for the Army to revise its talent management approach. Read the article here. Email [e-mail] to give feedback on this podcast or the genesis article. Keywords: recruitment, US Army history, personnel policy, talent management, Army People Strategy