WM
The solution is imbedded in your restatement of the problem, if I may quote slightly out of context:
a much larger investment in people
There's the solution, but noone in a position to change things is ready to acknowledge that the baby is really this ugly.

Now just a little more of the story; at the time that I left the AC, my branch had THE worst retention rate for company grade officers. Was the Korean War era personnel management system the only issue? No. Was it a major issue? Yes. I'll agree that it is part of a bigger problem, but I believe that it is "the last straw" for many folks we should really be trying to keep.