Strained by war, U.S. Army promotes unqualified soldiers

A Salon investigation reveals that a shortage of skilled sergeants has led to dubious promotions for inexperienced soldiers -- even jeopardizing some operations in Iraq.

Editor's note: This article has been corrected since it was first published.

By Bill Sasser

Read more: Military, War, Politics, Afghanistan, News, post-traumatic stress disorder, Iraq, Army, 2008 election

Mignon Khargie/Salon

July 30, 2008 | FORT HOOD, Texas -- America's military commitment in Iraq and Afghanistan is certain to remain a key issue in the presidential race -- and soon that could include renewed focus on a "stretched thin" U.S. Army. According to a Salon investigation, the Army is facing a troubling shortage of qualified sergeants, the noncommissioned officers considered to be the backbone of training and combat operations. In fact, a new Army policy intended to boost this critical leadership corps of NCOs has prompted a wave of promotions for apparently unqualified soldiers -- and even jeopardized some combat operations in Iraq.

In essence, an Army policy implemented in 2005 and expanded this year lowered the bar for enlisted soldiers with the rank of E-4 to gain the rank of sergeant, or E-5, by diminishing the vetting process. According to more than a half dozen current and former Army sergeants interviewed by Salon, the policy has produced sergeants who are not ready to lead. In some cases, soldiers were promoted even after being denied advancement by their own unit commanders. While awarding a promotion once required effort on the part of a commander, those interviewed say, the Army's current policy actually requires effort to prevent a promotion, and has had negative consequences on the battlefield.

A sergeant interviewed recently at Ft. Hood for this article recounted how he watched his commander feed the promotion papers for one E-4 through a shredder shortly before their unit deployed to Iraq in 2006. After two months in the field, that solider and another E-4 who had also been passed over for promotion were automatically promoted to sergeant anyway, despite their commander's earlier judgment. Problems soon arose during a combat patrol involving "action on contact," an encounter with the enemy in which fire is exchanged. "These two NCOs were immature and not ready as far as leading other soldiers, and there were some 'oh shit' moments," said the sergeant, who asked not to be identified and declined to provide specific details about the combat incident because of security restrictions. "We had to have a powwow and pull back on what was going on. Fortunately, no casualties occurred."

The newly promoted E-5s, he said, also had problems with calling in reports from the field -- which, in a combat scenario, could involve such life and death decisions as requesting suppressive fire or determining if an area is safe for medical helicopters to land. "We had to spend a lot of time counseling and mentoring these new E5s in the field," he said. "They have their sergeant rank and they still have a lot to learn."

Sgt. Colin Sesek, a medic in the 82nd Airborne Division who returned from a 15-month deployment to Iraq in November 2007, said automatic promotions affected both the morale and effectiveness of medical units in which he served and in combat units he observed. "There was an E-4 in my platoon who was very disorganized and didn't care about anyone else -- he always delegated down the line, even when it was his job to do," said Sesek. "I'm trying to think of the civilian equivalent of how to describe him -- ‘shit bag' is what we called him. He had been in the Army for a while and boom, he got paper boarded" -- a term referring to the Army's expedited promotions process. "When I heard he got promoted I said, yep, that's the only way he would have gotten it."

Sesek said the promotion had wider effects within his unit, as other platoon leaders followed this example and began promoting their own E4s without hesitation. "In infantry platoons, too, I saw people get promoted who shouldn't have been. The squad leaders told me, 'Well, if that screwup in that platoon got promoted, then we'll promote ours too.'"

After six years of war, with multiple tours of duty commonplace, the Army continues struggling to retain and recruit quality soldiers. After failing to meet its recruitment goals in 2005, the Army undertook measures to boost its numbers, with some success. That included stop-loss orders (compulsory postponement of retirements), bonuses of up to $50,000 for re-enlisting, and the loosening of standards on criminal backgrounds, education and age. It also began automatically promoting enlisted personnel with the rank of E-4 to sergeant, or E-5 in the Army's hierarchy of service ranks, based on a soldier's time in service, while waiving a requirement that candidates for E-5 appear before a promotions board.

Under the current policy, after 48 months of service E-4s serving in military specialties with shortages are automatically placed on a promotions list. Although a soldier's name can be removed by his or her commander, each month that soldier's name is placed back on the list. This was termed "automatic list integration" by the Army (or what the soldiers call "paper boarding"). This April, the policy was expanded to include promotions to staff sergeant, or E-6.

Sgt. Selena Coppa, a communications specialist in the 105th Military Intelligence Battalion, said she has noted a marked lowering of standards for E-4s being promoted to sergeant. "The doctrine now is that you just need to be trainable, and people who are not competent and not good leadership material are being promoted," said Coppa, who has expressed her concerns through unit performance surveys and spoken directly to her superiors. "A sergeant major told me, ‘Yes, you're right, but there's nothing I can do about it.'"

Lt. Col. Anne Edgecomb, head of the Army's media relations division for personnel at the Department of Defense, explained in an interview with Salon that the Army was short 1,549 sergeants, mostly in combat occupations, when the policy was implemented in February 2005. It has reduced the number of NCO occupational specialties with shortages by 74 percent since then, according to Edgecomb. She added that in many cases promotions are awarded to E-4s who, due to manpower shortages, are already doing the work of E-5s. "The policy does not change Army standards for promotion," said Edgecomb. "Commanders have the responsibility to stop a potential promotion when they determine a soldier is not trained or is in some way unqualified in accordance with standards."

Perhaps no part of the U.S. military has carried as heavy a burden in Iraq as Army sergeants, who directly train, mentor, discipline and lead boots-on-the-ground soldiers. After years of war, many of the Army's most experienced sergeants have retired, left the service, transferred to noncombat posts, or are recovering from battlefield injuries.

"Army NCOs lead on a very personal level and are the backbone of how the U.S. Army is run," says Lt. Col. Gian Gentile, a former commander in the 4th Infantry Division who teaches military history at West Point. "In combat specialties such as armor and infantry, doing two to three tours is having an effect on NCOs. They have been through a lot and it puts tremendous stress on them and their families."

The current promotion policy is causing some doubts and bitterness among veteran NCOs. "If these guys don't work for it and you give it to them, we're not making leaders, we're making stripe wearers," says Staff Sgt. Charles Bunyard, a senior scout in the 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood who commands a unit of Bradley fighting vehicles.

Bunyard has over 15 years of service in the Army, including two deployments to Iraq, where he survived nearly a dozen IED blasts, was grazed in the head by a sniper's bullet and broke a leg in three places in a training accident. Sent home last year from Diyala province after suffering a dislocated shoulder and a severe concussion in an IED attack, he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. But after five months of recuperation, he was cleared by Army doctors to return to duty and has volunteered for a third combat tour.

Next page: "When the Army began to fall apart during Vietnam, one of the red flags was the deterioration of the NCO corps"