Regardless of the future operating environment -- which we can only guess at -- the ability to put the right soldier, NCO or Officer in the right place at the right time is highly likely to be constrained by Congress who will insist on 'objective criteria,' 'fairness' and 'accountability.' All word that mean different things to different people. The Army wants to put the right person in the right place at the right time; I have no doubt they can do it far better than is now the case although never perfectly. However, I question whether they will be allowed to do so...
I believe the human adaptability factor is not difficult -- the Troops are capable of far more than we let them do; they are also capable of adapting to chaos with little problem. Institutional adaptability is far more likely to be the issue. Institutions do not do chaos well. When confronted with it, they tend to go into denial and seek a comfort zone -- see the entire US and the Armed Forces in particular during the period 1989-2001.
That's what this conference is all about -- adapting the institution...
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