I think Nagel is on the right track, but I for one have not been impressed with the Army’s and Marine’s approach to training and advising programs to date. For the most part, although there are exceptions, their performance has been substandard. Any approach we develop must be based on the force we have, not the force we which we had. For example:

1. We have very few strategic corporals (or equivalents) in our ranks.
2. Our soldiers/marines come from an technologically advanced society, that makes it much harder for the kids today to emphasize with their developing nation counterparts.
3. Our soldiers/marines today also come from such an extremely liberal society that we’re an aberration to much of the developing world, which is clinging hard to its traditional values (some argue the reason for the current fight), which makes it very difficult for our soldiers to understand cultural norms in developing nations.

I think the secret to making Nagel’s proposal work is selection and training. The only unit remaining that has the professional culture, doctrine, selection process, and training to support developing capable foreign trainers and advisors is the Army's Special Forces, but they have limitations based on their size and other missions, so it is necessary to assume that the conventional army should be able perform the training and advisory role.
I think that would be a fair assumption if:

1. Soldiers and Marines were specially selected for this mission.
2. Then they were trained and equipped to do the mission (not some shake and bake program)
3. They had a supporting chain of command focused on this mission (which we do)

I have seen it too many times where young conventional soldiers and marines working with foreign troops become quickly frustrated, because their training didn’t prepare them for what to expect, or simply they were the wrong person to put in that position. They end up accusing the local soldiers of being stupid because they don't speak English, can't shoot their weapons well, and they have no maintenance systems or skills, etc. Not only does the training fall way short of expectations, we end up creating a bad impression of Americans in the eyes of the soldiers being trained, yet these same American kids will perform adequately soldiers with their American peers, because they're a culturally integrated package operating trained to perform that role. It isn’t the kid that failed, rather we failed to prepare the kid to execute the mission.

Assuming the Army would support Nagel’s proposal I think the key to success is personnel selection. While the Special Forces assessment process works well, it is much too rigorous for what we're attempting to build (we need a lot of soldiers and marines not an elite few), because we would end up weeding out several potentially great advisors who may not have the athletic ability or mental/physical toughness to be an unconventional warrior behind enemy lines. The key is identifying what we’re looking for, and then determining how to assess for it. It will probably be based more personality based than physical skills.

Then we have to develop a training program. This sounds easy, but if you look at much our training has evolved in recent years, you’ll realize it is a big leap to all the sudden being placed in some north African nation with a battalion of poorly equipped troops, no designated training ranges, etc. You need guys and gals that can solve problems, and work in far less than ideal conditions.

I don’t think the Army will raise to the occasion, and they’ll fight hard to avoid forming an advisor unit, so we need an interim measure in the short run, and I think that answer may be providing a cadre of training and advisor leaders, who probably for the most part would hail from the senior ranks of Special Forces Officers, Warrant Officers and NCOs. They would work through, by, and with designated conventional forces as the leaders for their advisor units. For this to work, they would have to be placed in key leadership positions.

Another option, perhaps cheaper and more effective is going back to contractors. I worked with MPRI at my side more than once, and my experience was very positive. This gives our nation the capability to rapidly surge and contract the size of the advisory force as needed, based on the threat.

Just some thoughts on the way ahead.