The service academies are now a national joke. They teach very little aside from arrogance and woke Leftism. They should teach future military officers to be leaders and thinkers. How could we better go about this task? What value does a 4 year degree, in this age of reduced (or eliminated) standards, bring to military leadership? Remember, the ultimate purpose of officers is to lead men into battle and win wars.
I like Heinlein's idea. No man shall be eligible for officer training until after he has honorably served no less than two years nor more than ten as an enlisted man. This weeds out a lot of undesirable candidates. If you are unwilling to serve amongst the lowest of the low, to put up with the dirty end of the stick, you aren't what we need or want to lead troops into battle. We also only want patriots. Anti-American types need not apply.
After two years enlisted duty, a young man may apply to officer candidate school. I envision this school as lasting at least six months, at most two years. The topics taught shall be leadership, psychology, advanced first aid and field hygiene, military history, geography (both physical and human), effective communications (oral and written), basic accounting, technology (heavy on the practical, light on the theoretical), tactics, logistics, military operations, and basic staff work. Practical courses shall include rigorous physical training (daily), weapons handling (daily), marksmanship (monthly), a martial arts discipline (weekly), close combat (weekly, using airsoft guns), drone use (weekly), wargaming (weekly, starting with miniatures, eventually moving on to board games, and finally computerized staff games). One week per month shall be spent training in the field or onboard ship.
Graduation is to be conditional upon successful completion of all courses and activities, honorable and moral conduct throughout, as well as acceptable conduct during a six week final exercise in the field or onboard ship. Upon graduation, these young men will be commissioned as junior officers, with a service obligation of six years.
What about doctors and nurses? They do not lead troops into combat, so they don't get to be officers. Doctors could be Warrant officers, but honestly, most of them should just be DoD civilians under long term contracts.
Those are my thoughts on the topic. What are yours?
I like it. Very similar to what I went through in ROTC. My Liberal Arts Major was heavy on STEM, with History, classic literature, military history, and geography. Our Commandant of Cadets, an old Brown Shoe Major, put us through a rigorous Military Science regime which we cursed then, and thanked God for after graduation.
ReplyDeleteAgree with the enlisted first, but also think the officer corp should be cut by 75-80 percent. Many of the jobs they fill now could be done by senior NCO's.
ReplyDeleteNot bad. The British Navy had middies - literal kids who would grow up on the sea to become officers when their navy was at its best.
ReplyDeleteI'd throw in that there would be additional schools at higher ranks - new skills are needed when commanding a company over a platoon, and a corps over a division.
I deliberately left out higher schools. The focus here was initial officer training. I'd lengthen the "pre-command course" to two weeks, and make it mandatory before O3, then a six week staff course before O4. The War College used to do a pretty decent job above that level. It could again, if we pulled enough weeds. (Possibly with a flame thrower.)
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