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WASHINGTON -- Alarmed by an exodus of junior officers who say they are fed up with career-obsessed superiors, the Army announced Monday that it is forming two blue-ribbon panels to examine the issue and propose ways to improve officer retention.

Although grumbling in the ranks is as old as the military itself, a burgeoning list of recent studies, surveys and focus groups has documented a spreading culture of discontent among military officers, and those in the Army in particular.

The latest reports from the field have senior leaders especially worried. A strong economy has already made it increasingly difficult to find recruits to fill the all-volunteer ranks. Rising dissatisfaction among junior officers, the foundation of the Army leadership structure, threatens to destabilize the service from within.

The Army has seen a 58% increase in the number of captains who leave the service voluntarily each year, up from 6.7% in 1989 to 10.6% last year.

Such statistics are why Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki recently ordered the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., to survey 760 majors attending school there.

What those officers had to say, often in scathing language, has been making the e-mail circuit in Army circles for more than a week.

"The chief is very serious about asking the questions in order to identify the problems," says Brig. Gen. Bob Wood, one of two panel directors. "This is a natural process of internal review focused on the process of change."

Officers sounding off in what the Army calls "sensing sessions" were sharply critical about several aspects of military life, from the rapid pace of operations to their uniforms, which they called "ugly." But they saved their deepest cuts for an Army culture that many said discourages risk-taking and, with the advent of the Internet, allows senior leaders to micromanage subordinates.

In a summary of comments, the officers said that they perceived a "lack of communication between leaders and led" and that young officers "are getting out because they feel out of touch with leadership."

Most general officers "are preoccupied with their careers," the summary of comments said. "Unfortunately, this is the type of officer the system moves along."

"Trust is the most critical aspect of combat success," says Maj. Don Vandergriff, who has published articles critical of the Army's personnel system. "When that trust is broken, we've got problems."

Some of the most revealing passages in the Leavenworth report also came when officers were asked to respond to particular phrases:

* "Top-down loyalty," the summary said, "does not exist. Senior leaders will throw subordinates under the bus in a heartbeat to protect or advance their career."

* "Zero defects," the shorthand for not tolerating mistakes, is "a symptom of the peacetime Army. Since there is no war to evaluate performance, we have to evaluate everything!"

* "Readiness reporting" was called "absolute lies" by midlevel officers. They accused senior leaders of painting a rosier picture to Congress even as troops in the field struggle with shortages of personnel and spare parts.

The growing distrust between senior and junior officers has been documented before. In a militarywide survey released in January by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington- based think tank, service members were asked to comment on the statement, "When my senior service leader says something, you can believe it is true." Only 35% agreed or strongly agreed.

Military analyst Ralph Peters, a former Army officer, says many young officers envy innovation-driven dot-com peers and see no point in sticking around until they are middle-aged to make a difference. "Our military establishment is still stuck in industrial-age thinking, where GM and IBM were in the '70s. They want conformists," he says "If you're a lieutenant with a good idea, you'll be told to wait 25 years until you're a general to put your ideas into practice."

While the blue-ribbon panels will recommend changes to the Army culture when they report back in late summer, they will have a tougher time addressing broader, generational changes that have contributed to young officer flight. More Army spouses, for example, now have careers of their own and are increasingly less tolerant of the frequent upheavals of military life.

A recent internal survey of captains at Fort Benning, Ga., who planned to leave the Army found that 35% cited family issues as the main reason. Said one captain: "My wife feels more comfortable with me out of the Army. The moving and relocating will get worse."