But you do miss some important points. In addition to the European model, it must be remembered that for about 110 years or so the Army was viewed by most as a nuisance to be tolerated and not the backbone of national defense. That role was to be filled by the trusty militiaman or state volunteer (who we saw in action as late as the Philippines and lingers on in a much more organizationally mature form as the National Guard). As for training...we have historically SUCKED at what is now called basic training. It didn't even really exist until the 1880s, and even then it was more focused on "square bashing" (and not much of that). It was assumed that the unit would take care of practical training, but again there was more talk than actual action. Soldiers were authorized minimal ammunition for weapons practice (5-10 rounds A YEAR in some cases), and actual target shooting didn't gain widespread acceptance until after 1876 (Custer ring any bells?).

And the "Army is the backbone of the militia during wartime" mindset (a result of the Civil War, among other causes) was tolerable so long as units remained intact. But the policies put into place by Root (some needed, others not so much) started the slide toward our "ticket puncher" personnel and promotion systems. Trust is something that's built over time, and that doesn't happen when officers are rotated every two years or so and NCOs often don't remain in place, either.

To get back to Mike's question (or at least part of it), you can't build trust until you have unit stability. We're better now that we were ten years ago, but it's not where it should be. Up or out should also go away. I don't know that society as a whole is risk-adverse, Ken, but I do know that the military seems to think that it is. Combine that with the whole "zero defects" insanity and you get what we have today.

We have to honestly look at where we have been before we can move ahead, IMO. There were good things about the old regimental system, in addition to some defects. I hope (and maybe I'm an optimist) that we are smart enough now to take the good from the bad.

Hope that's of some help, Mike. I can get more specific if you'd like about some areas.