I think the US military, specifically the ground forces, are in the midst of a very serious and trying cultural change. There are the old guard, most of whom were commissioned when the Cold War was still around and were rasied and trained in that environment. These are now the 05-010's running the show. Then there are the rest of us officers, the ones who were commissioned in the Post Desert Storm era, who have seen mostly "peacekeeping", "humanitarian relief", "counterinsurgencies" and "small wars" instead of the wet dream Fulda Gap defense.

These two cultures are butting heads, especially as the wars in HOA, Iraq and the Ghan continue on. At the Boyd Conference, a retired Marine General had an interesting statement about the junior officers of today - he said that all they've seen since they've been commissioned is war, train for the next deployment, war. He isn't optimistic about officer retention if these wars continue at the current OPTEMPO.

We will come out of this mess in a vastly different form than where we started. Perhaps that will be good, perhaps not. We can only do the best we can in the time alloted.

To address Marct's comments:

1. Yes, everyone should have rudimentary infantry skills, with a gradation upward depending on what job you possess.

2. I'm not sold on the "better/cheaper" argument. I saw a retired 06, who was very competent, work in a Combined Staff in Afghanistan, and wondered why we couldn't put an 05 or even an 04 who would benefit from the experience? Are we diluting military talent by outsourcing these jobs, or does it even matter?

3. Yes, well, in a perfect world we'd have a military that could do everything, at least decently. We don't live in a perfect world. We have never really anticipated future threats all that well, or maybe we have and were just content to stay with the systems that existed at the time because we could adjust on the run? Look at Kasserine Pass and the learning curve afterwards. An advisory corps would be great, run it similar to the PSYOPS/Civil Affairs programs for the organizational design concepts.

4. You ask what we get for serving? A profession. That's what the military is today. You might say differently, but that's all it is from my limited view of the world. Sure, people are real nice to you in airports or train stations when you have a uniform on, but what else? I had a guy ask me to my face yesterday if I had killed anyone in Afghanistan. First question out of his mouth. Sigh. I don't ask for any special favors as a member of the military and quite frankly I don't want any. The country has spent their tax dollars on my education, training and experience, and I only hope that I've been able to pay it back with results that are for the country's benefit.

Ken makes a very interesting point that I'd like to expand on. Quote: Particularly if the Armed Forces get their acts together, realize what things the kids are capable of, stop treating 'em like children" When I redeployed from Afghanistan, I have had the misfortune to work for an 06 who treats Majors as if they are Specialists. Luckily this ends in six months but the last 16 months have been miserable to say the least. It's the love of the job that keeps me going, I realize we are, to quote Oh Brother Where Art Thou? "Damn, we're in a tight spot!" and I'm sticking around to help get us out of it.