Purging leaders. Is the Army doing too much, too fast?

I agree with you. The more of the "seasoned" leadership that you loose, the more (to me) unqualified soldiers you get "fast tracked" into those positions. Maybe they do that to save money... but you sacrifice that knowledge and experience.

The Army will always sacrifice quality to save a buck; I remember when there was talk of taking SDAP away from Drill Sergeants, then got rid of DSs altogether in Advanced Individual Training, making them "AIT Platoon Sergeants". This step alone caused a huge shift in discipline. Not saying that a special pay is warranted in order to maintain good order and discipline, but why must it always start with us?

 They took curricula out of our NCOES, and then try to supplement the gaps with all these SSD courses to save money...training is priceless, and well worth the cost! I miss the idea of an open bay for 30 days, being reset and rebuilt all over again to keep things in perspective and to foster humility in one's self. That supplemented with having supportive peers and Seniors made for some of the best men and women to wear chevrons.

At this point, I feel if the Army wants to downsize us, let people leave who don't want to be here and work with the ones who do, at all levels of leadership; they shouldn't retain someone against their will simply because they are a exceptional leader.  I remember MSG (P) Quick asking to the effect of "Let them leave? What if good NCOs/leaders want to leave, we should just let them?" If the Army was somewhere people wanted to stay, they would stay, but sometimes it is just a stepping stone of greatness for some.

The Army will lose a lot of experience and character with this purge, but there never seems to be a contingency plan put in place aside from raising the TIS/TIG in a system that is supposed to promote fairness across peers based on potential, which can end up screwing some people based simply off of their date of rank. In the end its the Army's loss, and the Soldiers as well.