Organizational change theories and diagnostic assessment in the US Army

Organizational Change Theories

The termination of the draft that took place in 1973 has far most been the most significant change in the U.S. military. The impacts of this change are still being witnessed even after twenty-four years of implementing the changes. Most of those people who are in active duty came by free will. It has created a lot of complication on how the military functions and the way they relate with the society. Even with their ranking, the military have grown to the level of professional military. They are trained as soldiers and posses that sense of a society in them. They have families, health care expenses and social infrastructure, which makes them expensive (Shrader, 2006).

The ending of the conscription in the past 10 years has led to the emergence of professionalism in the military. This exists even with their enlisted ranks. Although these professional are more stable and better trained as soldiers, they are extremely expensive. This is because they carry along social infrastructures ad families. These infrastructures range from higher education to drugs counseling to healthcare on military bases. Research indicates that $40 billion has been directed towards issues related to families within the Defense Department (Herbert, 2008).

The sustenance of an effective and efficient social safety net has proven to be impossible. It seems that the social safety net is going to be a necessity for supporting a professional military, which operates on an unusually high cost. The Army has been forced to cut on their personnel if they are to raise enough funds for the net maintenance. A measure must be taken to cut costs as to increase funds for supporting the net (Hofman, 2010). The changes that took place in the military have also had their fair share of influencing the culture. The military have been separated from the society: they mostly address themselves as 'we' separate from the community. They hold onto the view that they are culturally and morally different from the society. They cannot be compared to the military of the sixties which was a military establishment characterized by semi-mobilized citizens. American citizens have never been at ease with professional military (Shrader, 2006)

The developments that occurred after the Vietnam War are another significant area of change. The Marine Corps in this area seem to be exemplary just as with many features of defense in today's world. Corps was so disastrous in the 1970s. Abuse of drug and substance was at its peak, and there was no discipline. Incidents of violent racism were particularly rampant in 1970 (Hofman, 2010). The closure of many bases may bring isolation in the geographical and political arena. This means that they will be taken back to where they were prior to the Second World War. At this period, the military posts' location was in the far west and south. In areas where life is expensive such as the far west and northeast, closing of bases has become a common phenomenon (Herbert, 2008).