With all the changes to the military (Army especially), are we losing our way?

I have read hundreds of posts on RallyPoint, and seen many more among Army Times and even general discussions.

I grew up around WW2 Airborne NCOs, as I was a reenactor prior to joining the military. These veterans taught me a lot abut how to take care of my troops and what a good Soldier/medic/NCO/officer would do to help his fellow Soldiers. They helped to instill a sense of pride in everything I did and taught me the Core Values before I knew them as the Core Values.

Fast forward to today: In 7 years in the Army, we have taken away unit patches, changed dress uniforms, changed PT uniforms (twice, plus variations), changed headgear (at least once), talked about getting rid of branch insignia, changed our combat uniforms (kinda twice...when I started, we still had some of the BDUs in our ranks).

I've also talked at length with some of my Soldiers, my leadership, and others. The military has changed as well. A few of these changes seem to indicate a loss of identity and pride in being a Soldier. USAWTFM posted recently about a Soldier posting about "it's a good day to go sell drugs" and posting pictures of marijuana on his Facebook page. There are stories of Soldiers ducking Retreat and boasting about it, people complaining of under-involved leadership, the suicide problem in the military. To me, I wonder how much of this is a loss of esprit de corps, discipline, and the "Band of Brothers" that made things possible.

Some of these seem to indicate to me a need to return to the traditions of the Army to help inspire confidence and pride in being a piece of history. I cannot speak outside of the Army, but the Marines do seem to maintain that tradition. How do we get back to basics, like taking care of Soldiers? Bringing together the "military Family"? Helping people to understand pride in the uniform and the significance of all of the awards, patches, and traditions?

Can the return to tradition help? It seems that we have a lot of problems that can be fixed by changing the mentality of the military to the "way it was", rather than focusing on trivialities like what kind of PT uniform, what kind of headgear, and changing our distinctive unit insignias.

Thanks in advance for the discussion. I'd love to hear the input from others. There are many more things I could add, but I want to hear from others. (Those that know me, know that I tend to "type a response to death"...tryin' to fix that).
v/r,
CPT Butler