Ken White:
The MDMP should be taught at BNCOC and at OBC.
Back some years ago this was the case. I cannot speak for what is taught now. If I was a betting man MDMP has probably been replaced by PowerPoint 101. When I attended BNCOC the class was horrendous, I rewrote the class. I had the luxury of having just come off staff and had great teachers. The S3 made it a requirement that NCOs were involved in the MDMP process (I still thank him to this day for it). He insisted that when conducting COA development each planning cell had an NCO in it to keep the officers level headed. We tried to get him to let the NCOs do our own but he'd never bite, think he was afraid we'd out plan them. It's actually kinda funny in hindsight, MDMP is something you do all the time, you just never knew that it was what you were doing.

One of the biggest issues I've seen over the years regarding staff personnel is why soldiers are put on staff. I have seen two approaches. The first approach is least preferred IMO, when the tasker goes to the companies to provide someone for staff no one wants to get rid of their "stud", so they send the less desirables. So instead of this guys realm of influence being contain it has just been greatly widend. This happens more than not on the NCO level. The second approach I have witnessed is the staff being "handpicked". I learned early on, if you want to be successful surround yourself with good people. IMO staff should be your "studs". It may be painful at first to have them gone but the benefits will be a hundred fold in the end.