DoD Personnel Team Gets A Key Member

The National Security Personnel System lacks a director, and lies on the brink of repeal. But President Obama has appointed a new Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, Clifford Stanley. Stanley will have overarching responsibility for NSPS and other policies affecting both civilian and military personnel. Stanley spent 33 years in the Marine Corps, and left the armed services as a Major General. But his professional experience isn't limited to military service: he was also Chief Operating Officer of the University of Pennsylvania, and president of Scholarship America, which administers a range of college scholarship programs, and has distributed $2 billion in funds to more than 2 million students since the organization was founded 51 years ago. And interestingly, Stanley has a masters in Counseling Johns Hopkins a bachelors degree in psychology.

That educational background might prove useful as Stanley takes on a discomfited civilian workforce at the Defense Department. It may sound squishy, but when it comes to personnel, morale matters. And morale is just a fancy word for people's feelings. Someone who comes in prepared to sympathize may get the feedback he needs to create and oversee strong policies.