Reading that article shows me that the DOD is trying to reinvent the wheel. When I joined the Army Reserves in 1988, I became a 13 Bravo (artillery crewman). Over the course of the next 4 years, I took SEVERAL classes offered to my unit due to our affiliation with both the 10th Mountain and 1st Army. Those classes included:
Machinegun School; This was a two-week summer course for the Reserves to improve the gunnery of our units and introduce soldiers to a more in-depth training on belt-fed weapons than the "familiarization training" we received in Basic. It was a volunteer class (24 students) run 4 times a year in our ARCOM.
Demolitions Training; This was another 2-week training class open to any Reservist who applied for it during the year.
Cold Weather Mountain School, Airborne/Jump School, Air Assault School, Sniper School and Ranger Training; The option to go to the 8-week (in the 90's) schools was given by the Regan Administration to Reserve troops in the 1980s in order to improve training standards. An ARCOM-wide lottery was held for all qualified candidates who wanted to go. Ten Reservists were selected to go each school every year. Please note that Ranger Training DID NOT make you a member of the 75th Ranger Regiment. It simply gave you that training, which you were expected to pass on to your fellow soldiers (improving THEIR combat efficiency in turn).
Added MOS Training; You could train in ANY MOS within your ARCOM by going to a 5-WEEKEND training program and then completing a special 2-week "finals program" (including PT and Skills Qualification Testing) at the appropriate Fort/Post where that MOS was taught. Completion resulted in the issuance of a diploma in that MOS. This was known as cross-training or cross-specialization and was common in the NG and Reserves.
I personally went to Ft. "Lost in the Woods" [Leonard Wood] for 88 Mike (wheeled vehicle driver/CDL A), Ft "Disneyland" [Dix] (Special Weapons), Ft. Lean-on-it [Lee]... with their Military-In-The-Field (MIF) site... and yes it was ACTUALLY CALLED the "MIF site" (77 Fox, Petroleum Specialist), and of course Ft "Silly" [Sill] (13 Foxtrot, Forward Observer) and hold all of those as an actual MOS with a diploma to prove completion. And I assure you, I am FAR from alone in this.
In 1994, "President Clinton" ended ALL of these (pretty expensive) training programs as part of the "Peace Dividend."
While I don't really agree with the idea that you should do 4 years BEFORE being allowed to become Infantry/Combat Arms, I do think there should be a higher standard for Combat Arms. ALL US Soldiers (and Marines) should go through the FULL OSUT training for INFANTRY AS A BASIC TRAINING. They should then be "scored" based on their "performance" on various criteria (ASVAB, PT, SQT, attitude, road marches, etc...). Only the highest scores should be allowed into the Combat Arms with lower scores having to take alternate MOS training. You then send the troops to ANOTHER MOS school where they will learn more advanced skills (in addition to their initial Infantry training). This would cost a lot more but would produce a better grade of soldier.
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