Quote Originally Posted by Fuchs View Post
To consider a combat-experienced officer corps the way to go, the best scenario, equals the wish for a country's involvement in warfare in at least a 20 year intervals. That's a wish for a periodic failure of the government to keep the country out of a great mess.
It's not even close to a good idea.
Most militaries have to prepare in times of peace. This makes for a process where the assessment of how an officer will perform under combat conditions based on guesswork, supposition and wishful thinking. Actual exposure to combat takes the guesswork out of it.

What I'm saying is that if a nation finds itself at war then its military would be negligent if it does not ensure that the maximum number of young officers get exposed to combat and given the opportunity to command troops in combat.

There is a tendency for those who have not been exposed to combat to underplay the development benefit and value of the combat experience. You learn a lot about yourself and war through combat experience... especially if you bleed a bit in the process.