{"id":80269,"date":"2023-11-16T16:04:21","date_gmt":"2023-11-16T16:04:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/11\/16\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:25:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:25:26","slug":"in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2023\/11\/16\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\/","title":{"rendered":"In war for talent, Army\u2019s new direct commissions an admin \u2018disaster\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In order to fight tomorrow\u2019s wars, the Army is increasingly looking to its past, and a space officer\u2019s recent appointment illustrates how far its efforts have come \u2014 and how much further they have to go against bureaucratic headwinds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capt. Jenniffer Estrada Lupianez, a newly minted Army Reserve space operations officer<\/a>, works by day as a research scientist in the Los Alamos National Laboratory\u2019s Intelligence and Space division. She also looked to the past \u2014 her family\u2019s \u2014 when she decided to follow her uncle and late father\u2019s footsteps into the Army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in doing so, Estrada Lupianez became the first space officer to emerge from the Army\u2019s embrace of an older tradition: appointing specialized officers based on civilian expertise rather than forcing them to go through typical commissioning programs. The direct appointments were a crown jewel of recent Army talent management reform efforts \u2014 collectively dubbed the \u201cwar for talent\u201d by now-retired Gen. James McConville, the service\u2019s former chief of staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eight decades ago, when the world was at war, the Army needed experts it couldn\u2019t mass produce: medical professionals, lawyers, intelligence analysts, communications experts, electrical engineers, industrial planners, film actors and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Direct commissions filled the void, according to service historians<\/a>, producing around 104,000 officers in 1942 from experienced civilians. Examples ranged from the Signal Corps building 404 battalions<\/a> around direct commissioned officers with experience in fields like telephone repair, to the president of General Motors shunning the private sector to become a three-star general overseeing industrial logistics<\/a>. Over time the process fell out of practice except for medical, religious and legal specialties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fiscal years 2019 and 2020, Congress expanded direct commission authorities and allowed the services to provide active or reserve appointments to hard-to-find experts. Priority areas include space, cyber, civil affairs and more \u2014 all spaces where the military will need America\u2019s best and brightest should war with China or another superpower break out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at a panel discussion last month, Army Reserve chief Lt. Gen. Jody Daniels, spoke candidly about her struggles cutting through red tape to appoint new officers via direct commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur process right now for direct commission is a disaster,\u201d the three-star general said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The numbers largely support Daniels\u2019 argument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside of specialty fields (like law, the chaplaincy and medical professions), the Army only netted 13 direct commission officers in fiscal year 2020<\/a> and 32 in fiscal 2021<\/a>, according to annual historical summaries. But those totals are slowly improving as the service adjusts its process. Daniels said the Reserve in fiscal year 2022 saw \u201cover 50\u2033 direct commissions and that nearly 100 such officers entered in fiscal year 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those who have made it thus far, like Estrada Lupianez, have largely done so through administrative tenacity, patience and support from the units they\u2019re aiming to join.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Space and Missile Defense Center of Excellence\u2019s commandant, Col. Donald Brooks, praised the \u201cresourceful\u201d new captain because \u201cshe found her way to Army space and started working with the Army Space Personnel Development Office to submit her packet,\u201d which launched a year-long process where offices around the Army developed policies allowing her to enter the space functional area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Newly commissioned Capt. Jenniffer Estrada-Lupianez poses with fellow members of the U.S. Strategic Command’s Army Reserve troop program unit after her commissioning ceremony on Nov. 3, 2023. (Dottie White\/Army)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And it\u2019s not just Estrada Lupianez who experienced a waiting period while the Army figured out its admin procedures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had some [civil affairs] folks who \u2014 bless their hearts \u2014 endured two years before they were commissioned, but they stuck with the program,\u201d Daniels said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personnel expert Kate Kuzminski, who heads the Military, Veterans and Society branch of the Center for a New American Security think tank, emphasized how important it will be to iron out the kinks in direct commissioning before the Army\u2019s next large-scale war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[Direct commissions] harken back to how we historically had to tap into the nation\u2019s talent,\u201d she said in reference to World War II officer procurement efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She argued the services have largely accounted for the big-picture challenges \u2014 cultural barriers, fiscal barriers, and policy barriers \u2014 that could impede modern direct commissions. Kuzminski also thinks the practice could pay dividends beyond just niche capabilities like cyber and space, to include areas like logistics and acquisitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow great would it be to get a vice president from DHL or UPS to come in and help overhaul logistics, if that\u2019s what we needed?\u201d she asked, or \u201cteams from the private sector who have the vast [logistics and acquisition] experience we need in order to enable the operations [in which] we will be engaged.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now it\u2019s just a matter of removing administrative roadblocks and streamlining the process before it\u2019s needed at scale \u2014 and getting the word out, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Potential leaders like Estrada Lupianez are ready to answer the call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGoing from \u2018street to seat\u2019 means I have quite a learning curve,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I have several fantastic mentors in my unit and in the space operations community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of Daniels\u2019 deputies at Army Reserve Command, Brig. Gen. Kelly Dickerson, said the long waits for civil affairs experts have provided valuable lessons in improving the pathway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have the talent \u2014 we can do these things, and that took a lot of pushing on the system,\u201d Dickerson said. \u201cIt is [around] 46 steps to be directly commissioned into the United States Army \u2026 we\u2019re going to fix that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Army’s direct commissioning machine has slowly creaked to life in recent years, but will it be ready for the next war’s demands?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":87136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":88,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[29,115,15,25,88],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3456],"class_list":["post-80269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home","category-military-history","category-news","category-veterans","category-your-military"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"QL7WQJ2MZZEGTKTB4JMYMDNMBU","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-army\/2023\/11\/16\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\nIn war for talent, Army\u2019s new direct commissions an admin \u2018disaster\u2019 - Military Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Army's direct commissioning machine has slowly creaked to life in recent years, but will it be ready for the next war's demands?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In war for talent, Army\u2019s new direct commissions an admin \u2018disaster\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Army's direct commissioning machine has slowly creaked to life in recent years, but will it be ready for the next war's demands?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2023\/11\/16\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Military Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-16T16:04:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T04:25:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Davis Winkie\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Davis Winkie\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t \"@graph\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/16\\\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\\\/#article\",\n\t \"isPartOf\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/16\\\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\\\/\"\n\t },\n\t \"author\": {\n\t \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t },\n\t \"headline\": \"In war for talent, Army\u2019s new direct commissions an admin \u2018disaster\u2019\",\n\t \"datePublished\": \"2023-11-16T16:04:21+00:00\",\n\t \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T04:25:26+00:00\",\n\t \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/16\\\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\\\/\"\n\t },\n\t \"wordCount\": 913,\n\t \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t \"publisher\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/16\\\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/8111455.jpg.jpg\",\n\t \"articleSection\": [\n\t \"Home\",\n\t \"Military History\",\n\t \"News\",\n\t \"Veterans\",\n\t \"Your Military\"\n\t ],\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t \"target\": [\n\t \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/16\\\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\\\/#respond\"\n\t ]\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/16\\\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\\\/\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/16\\\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\\\/\",\n\t \"name\": \"In war for talent, Army\u2019s new direct commissions an admin \u2018disaster\u2019 - Military Times\",\n\t \"isPartOf\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#website\"\n\t },\n\t \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/16\\\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/16\\\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/8111455.jpg.jpg\",\n\t \"datePublished\": \"2023-11-16T16:04:21+00:00\",\n\t \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T04:25:26+00:00\",\n\t \"description\": \"The Army's direct commissioning machine has slowly creaked to life in recent years, but will it be ready for the next war's demands?\",\n\t \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/16\\\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t },\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t \"target\": [\n\t \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/16\\\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\\\/\"\n\t ]\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/16\\\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/8111455.jpg.jpg\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/8111455.jpg.jpg\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/16\\\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t \"itemListElement\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 1,\n\t \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/\",\n\t \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 2,\n\t \"name\": \"News\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/\",\n\t \"ad_zone\": \"news\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 3,\n\t \"name\": \"Your Military\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/\",\n\t \"ad_zone\": \"your-military\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 4,\n\t \"name\": \"In war for talent, Army\u2019s new direct commissions an admin \u2018disaster\u2019\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#website\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/\",\n\t \"name\": \"Military Times\",\n\t \"description\": \"Independent News About Your Military | Military Times\",\n\t \"publisher\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t },\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t \"target\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t },\n\t \"query-input\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t }\n\t }\n\t ],\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#organization\",\n\t \"name\": \"Military Times\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/\",\n\t \"logo\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/military-logo-white.png\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/military-logo-white.png\",\n\t \"caption\": \"Military Times\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t }\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t },\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"In war for talent, Army\u2019s new direct commissions an admin \u2018disaster\u2019 - Military Times","description":"The Army's direct commissioning machine has slowly creaked to life in recent years, but will it be ready for the next war's demands?","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"In war for talent, Army\u2019s new direct commissions an admin \u2018disaster\u2019","og_description":"The Army's direct commissioning machine has slowly creaked to life in recent years, but will it be ready for the next war's demands?","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2023\/11\/16\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\/","og_site_name":"Military Times","article_published_time":"2023-11-16T16:04:21+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T04:25:26+00:00","author":"Davis Winkie","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Davis Winkie","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2023\/11\/16\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2023\/11\/16\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"In war for talent, Army\u2019s new direct commissions an admin \u2018disaster\u2019","datePublished":"2023-11-16T16:04:21+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T04:25:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2023\/11\/16\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\/"},"wordCount":913,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2023\/11\/16\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/8111455.jpg.jpg","articleSection":["Home","Military History","News","Veterans","Your Military"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2023\/11\/16\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2023\/11\/16\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2023\/11\/16\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\/","name":"In war for talent, Army\u2019s new direct commissions an admin \u2018disaster\u2019 - Military Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2023\/11\/16\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2023\/11\/16\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/8111455.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2023-11-16T16:04:21+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T04:25:26+00:00","description":"The Army's direct commissioning machine has slowly creaked to life in recent years, but will it be ready for the next war's demands?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2023\/11\/16\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2023\/11\/16\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2023\/11\/16\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/8111455.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/8111455.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2023\/11\/16\/in-war-for-talent-armys-new-direct-commissions-an-admin-disaster\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/","ad_zone":"news"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Your Military","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/","ad_zone":"your-military"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"In war for talent, Army\u2019s new direct commissions an admin \u2018disaster\u2019"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/","name":"Military Times","description":"Independent News About Your Military | Military Times","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#organization","name":"Military Times","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/military-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/military-logo-white.png","caption":"Military Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Military Times","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes","push-errors":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/8111455.jpg.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80269"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80269\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80278,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80269\/revisions\/80278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80269"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=80269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}