Sunday, June 29, 2008

Old guys and young guns

Given the large number of young officers and NCOs in the force (LT thru CPT and SGT through SSG) who may have had multiple (3,4,5) combat deployments over the past several years, coupled with fewer older officers and NCOs who have less, I wonder if there is a growing separation in mutual understanding between the two generations. From what I've read, and heard second hand, our young leaders have gotten pretty good at fighting the type war we are engaged in, while most of our senior leaders grew up in a different Army and world. In the past, one might have concluded that the center of gravity for battlefield action rested at the battalion (MAJ/LTC and SGM/CSM) level, today it seems to be at the company (LT/CPT and SFC/1SG) level. It will be interesting to see how the Army and the rest of the military deal with this situation…that is if my observation is accurate, which it might not be.