Old corrective training vs the New corrective training! What are your thoughts?

I do not agree with "dropping" or "smoking" a Soldier right off the bat and in fact, I don't even do that unless its the last result which resulted from a SM not listening to me because they chose not to. We are leaving in a learning environment in which we must investigate, evaluate, ask questions and determine a plan and execute that plan and evaluate again. How can we do anything if we say, "oh PVT Snuffy was late again so I will just smoke the living dog crap out of him and I expect that will fix everything". How about we ask PVT Snuffy why is he late? It might be a serious situation that awaits for him to come home to every night. As counselors, we counsel; we find out the problem and we fix it.

In the line units I have served in, we skull drug Joe if he messed up...but the punishment fit the crime. A smart remark would probably get you 50; miss first formation and the pain won't stop until COB.

Right now I am serving in a TRADOC unit, and now we are on a short leash.

The Army doesn't work like it used to and it IS getting softer, mainly because NCOs are not enforcing the standard. The "new" Army soldiers are not as resilient as those in the past (I recently had to implement a sleep plan for a "hard charging" SSG while in the field. While this was the right thing to do, I'm twice his age and he just can't keep up with the optemo...not an isolated instance and not restricted to NCOs). Excuses and questions have become the new normal.
Smarter...? Yes and No. The average Soldier is far smarter than the average Soldier 20 years ago. However, the PCCs that those NCOs were taught in the 90s they can still do automatically with their eyes closed...the "new" Amy version has to be remediated on this basic skill because they can't retain it.
Your closing statement is a disturbing perception that I see more and more...that the Army is somehow supposed to be in the business of training you to be successful in a civilian skill once you leave the military. The Army's primary task is to close with and destroy the enemy in order to protect our nation...anything you pick up along the way that assists you when you complete your term of service is a bonus, not an entitlement.