But for the last six years, the office has seen its leaders come and go rather quickly, contributing to a perception in and outside the Pentagon that the office has not been effective in taking care of what senior leaders often call the military’s most precious resource: its people. Not since David S.C. Chu served as personnel under secretary from 2001 to 2009 has the office had any meaningful continuity in its top job. Chu served longer than his nine successors—combined.
The office’s turnover reflects broader problems that have created the perception that it is a graveyard for innovative thinking. “For that office, it seemed the status quo was satisfactory,” former Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrote in his memoir, “Duty,” published last year. “Virtually every issue I wanted to tackle with regard to health affairs… wounded warriors and disability evaluations encountered active opposition, passive resistance, or just plain bureaucratic obduracy from P&R. It makes me angry even now.”