In today's modern military, would there be any benefit to an enlisted structure similar to that of the past?

To be an NCO, I'd like to think a person must pass some ind of leadership test. If a sm who is proficient in their chosen specialty but is incapable of passing the leadership test, should still be promoted when eligible. There are jobs, both in the military and in the civilian world, that do not require leadership skills.---Taking a random group of people and putting them into a random set of circumstances. They will gravitate to those positions requiring their particular skillsets. That includes leadership.

Isn't the SPEC4-SPEC9 the old version of what Warrant Officers are today?

I think that there would be. There are a lot of people that get promoted into the NCO ranks that would be better suited in a more specialized SME position less the leadership responsibilities. Unfortunately I think the WO career paths eliminate any hope of that happening.

I would say keep the rank structure as it is now. The specialist rank past grade of 4 because we now have warrant officers. If the army wanted to create enlisted technicians working with warrants yiu might be able to incorporate specialist there 5,6,7,8 there.

SGT Joseph Gunderson
I could see such a system having merit with National mobilization but not with an all volunteer force. If we did have a shortage of people capable of leading maybe, but nothing about Spec-6. What Senior Leadership position would not require a someone who was a leader?

I could see how this could be useful for certain fields like Cyber where sometimes you get introverted but highly skilled people who don't need to be leaders to add value to the military but for the most part that's why Warrant Officers exist.(Not saying Warrant Officers can't also be leaders I am mainly referring to how their primary asset is their specialized skills)