Just a couple of (opinionated) points .

1. It has never made sense to me to have a military system where you require separate insignia to designate the fighters from the bureaucrats. If they aren't competent to fight, they should be gone.

2. I certainly think that when you can hire a civilian to do a job better (and cheaper) than you can train / retain a combat soldier, you should do it. The sole major exception I see to this is in the Navy where you have long deployments with no civilian access. I am not saying that all roles shouldn't be fillable by soldiers, just that they do not have to be filled by soldiers.

3. The purpose of a military is to be able to meet any conceivable threat (within economic restrictions). All else is makework. The real trick, IMHO, is to be able to conceive of these threats and to perceive them thereby defining what skills will be necessary to meet that threat. BTW, Ken, I think an Advisor Corps is an excellent idea myself.

4. If someone is incompetent, they should be fired. Period, end of sentence. This specifically includes General Officers. Personally, I would like to see the equivalent of a Captain's Board for each major commander in any action - say brigade level. This isn't because I want to see general officers pilloried, but because I believe they need to be held accountable for their actions.

The real problem with all of this is the answer to the question of what do you get for serving? Heinlein's Starship Troopers (the book, not the "snuff in space" piece of Bravo Sierra movie) addressed this point head on, but I haven't really seen any other work that addresses it at a fundamental level. Enlistment bonuses? Give me a break, that's just competing with private industry. Status? Since Vietnam, the cultural status of being former military has been pretty low. Secure job prospects? We're starting to see that in the PMC market (we've had it in Canada with the Corps of Commisionaires for a while). "Duty to the Nation"? Pardon me while I chortle at how the majority of Gen Y'ers are going to react to that one![1]

Honestly, something has to be developed that is restricted to ex-military. The Romans had it and their military was strong until hey got rid of it i the 4th century. The US used to have it but is loosing it rapidly in light of competition with private industry.

Marc

[1] Note, this is not an attempt to disparage nationalism or a belief in individual duty in any way whatsoever! This is an admittedly somewhat cynical take on how Gen Y'ers will, on average, respond to such an appeal.