Army senior leaders suggest that to face the challenges of the Contemporary Operating Environment, the US Army requires a new type of officer. This multi-skilled leader, dubbed the 'pentathlete';, will meet the challenges of the modern battlefield as a function of his maturity, experience, education, and formal training. US Army officers today, however, face a career path marked by "up or out" promotions, short tours leading and commanding soldiers, and few opportunities to seek advanced degrees in residence. Officers weather the other second and third order effects of an outdated 20-year retirement plan that does not optimize the resources dedicated to building a highly effective officer corps. When prompted to change, the US Army often looks to its own history for inspiration. Rather than take a traditional approach, the author conducted a study of army officer development among America's five closest allies. The armies of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and Great Britain all exhibit common developmental themes and all strongly diverge from the current US model. The result of this study, an allied-inspired model for US Army officer development, may provide some suggestions for the US Army in their effort to create pentathlete officers.This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
