Just got off the phone with a good friend who recently wrapped up his third Iraq tour. His thoughts and observations were very interesting, but for the purpose of this particular thread, he observed:

Witnessing more Officers and Senior NCOs relieved of command/responsibility than ever before. In fact, he noted the amount was "incredible". In all fairness, he is the type of guy that would be willing to give someone many chances, so he's not the vindictive or cutthroat type.

He believed that about 80% of them were completely deserved and the other 20% were not, or questionable, (scapegoats, etc.) He did mention that a few seemed like ridiculous micro-management (i.e., a 1SG being relieved by MNC-I commander because of negligent discharges)

Thought this was particularly interesting considering our discussions of company command, etc.

I can honestly say that during my two combat tours, I never saw anyone "relieved". I saw the COC "switch" guys out after 12 months to get them out of command, but not true "relief for cause".