Recent Publications

On Today's Recruiting Crisis
December 21, 2023 — Dr. Conrad C. Crane and Dr. Brian McAllister Linn address the Army’s recruiting crisis—especially for combat arms. Talent management was identified as an issue for the Army in 1907 in a General Staff report and continues to be a challenge. The results of the President’s Commission on an All-Volunteer Force in 1970 may have complicated matters further... MORE

A Historical Perspective on Today’s Recruiting Crisis
September 28, 2023 — adetail.news .article-body { max-width: 90% !important; }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... MORE

AI: Centaurs Versus Minotaurs—Who Is in Charge?
June 28, 2023 — Who is in charge when it comes to AI? People or machines? In this episode, Paul Scharre, author of the books Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War and the award-winning Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, and Robert Sparrow, coauthor with Adam Henschke of “Minotaurs, Not Centaurs: The Future of Manned-Unmanned Teaming”... MORE

Trusting AI: Integrating Artificial Intelligence into the Army’s Professional Expert Knowledge
June 22, 2023 — Integrating artificially intelligent technologies for military purposes poses a special challenge. In previous arms races, such as the race to atomic bomb technology during World War II, expertise resided within the Department of Defense. But in the artificial intelligence (AI) arms race, expertise dwells mostly within industry and academia. Also, unlike the development of the bomb, effective employment of AI... MORE

Trusting AI
February 8, 2023 — Integrating artificially intelligent technologies for military purposes poses a special challenge. In previous arms races, such as the race to atomic bomb technology during World War II, expertise resided within the Department of Defense. But in the artificial intelligence (AI) arms race, expertise dwells mostly within industry and academia. Also,... MORE

Trusting AI: Integrating Artificial Intelligence into the Army’s Professional Expert Knowledge

“Interrupting Bias in Army Talent Management”
April 4, 2022 — This article addresses the impact of diversity, equity, and inclusion on talent management. It explains how systemic bias impairs the US Army’s ability to harness cognitive diversity. It stresses the value of cognitive diversity among teams and senior leadership and how cumulative bias impacts the entire career cycle of an individual. It concludes by offering practical suggestions to reduce bias in the assignment, promotion, and selection processes. ... MORE

Starting Strong: Talent-Based Branching of Newly Commissioned U.S. Army Officers
April 1, 2016 — Authors: LTC Michael J Colarusso, LTC Kenneth G Heckel, COL David S Lyle, LTC William L SkimmyhornBecause the U.S. military's long-held advantage in physical capital and equipment is waning, cutting-edge human capital management is more critical than ever before. The authors of "Starting Strong" argue that by gathering detailed information on the... MORE

Cover for Starting Strong: Talent-Based Branching of Newly Commissioned U.S. Army Officers

Paid to Perform: Aligning Total Military Compensation with Talent Management, Vol. 8
June 30, 2015 — Authors: LTC Michael J Colarusso, COL Andrew O Hall, COL David S Lyle, Major Michael S Walker, Mr Roy A WallaceView the Executive Summary Transforming the U.S. military’s personnel management system is critical to long-run American national security interests, particularly as increasingly capable peer adversaries emerge. Talent management is... MORE

Creating an Effective Regional Alignment Strategy for the U.S. Army
November 1, 2014 — Authors: Major Raven Bukowski, Major John Childress, LTC Michael J Colarusso, COL David S Lyle View the Executive SummaryAs the war in Afghanistan draws to a close, the Army increasingly is focused upon “regionally aligning” its forces. To do so effectively, however, it must undertake several initiatives. First, the Army must acknowledge and... MORE

Cover for Creating an Effective Regional Alignment Strategy for the U.S. Army

Senior Officer Talent Management: Fostering Institutional Adaptability
February 1, 2014 — Author: LTC Michael J Colarusso, COL David S Lyle View the Executive SummaryThe Army has for years been successful at creating senior leaders adept in the art and science of land combat after honing their leadership at the direct and organizational levels. While those experiences remain invaluable, undue reliance upon them to create the Army's... MORE

Cover for Senior Officer Talent Management: Fostering Institutional Adaptability

Talent: Implications for a U.S. Army Officer Corps Strategy
November 1, 2009 — Authors: LTC Michael J Colarusso, COL David S Lyle, COL Casey Wardynski In our proposed Army Officer Corps Strategy, we established the interdependency of accessing, developing, retaining and employing talented leaders. Before exploring each of those functions in greater detail, however, we must first define “talent.” In our view, talent is... MORE