Eddie - sorry you feel that way. I agree with both you and Web about different aspects of the commisioning process in the US Army (19 yr E7 here). I think on balance the process works pretty well in the active component. In the reserve component the OCS grads tend to be better at the O-1 level, not so much because they can relate to their joes better, but rather because they've seen and know how to use their NCO's more effectively, without micro managing them. The micro managing of senior NCO's is something that I think happens with the current US commisioning system, that detracts from the quality of O-1's as they learn to work this out.
That said, the current commisioning system while structured on a the same model as was used during Vietnam, now produces a vastly superior product. Those of us with enlisted service will always be detractors of 2nd LT's, especially those of us who serve or have served as PSG's, and have an active hand in mentoring 2nd LT's into 1st LT's and future company command.
@ Kato - I agree that the tenor of the board has gone down hill, and I think I relate that to the same individual who doesn't seem to care, or get his own offensive behavior. And for my part as an American I'd like to accept personal responsibilty for the Twilight War, as an American I bear moral responsibilty for the fictional global genocide portrayed by GDW, it was my fictional government which prolonged the fictional Sino-Soviet War by supplying the fictional Chinese government with arms and other war material so that they could continue to resist the fictional Soviet Invasion. Further, my fictionally democratically elected government supported the fictional West German militarists intent on unification of their great homeland by force of arms, which began as passive support, and ended with a fictional invasion of the DDR, and Poland lead by my fictionally great nation, and it's obviously fictional allies. This resulted in the fictionalized decimation of the worlds population, with the exception of the fictionalized supremely powerful nation of Australia, which was not adequately defined or detailed in GDW's published material, who intended the supersoldiers from this highly populated anglophile speaking ally of the west, to represent the saviors of western civilization in the fictional post twilight war world. Unfortunatly, GDW went though a real world bankruptcy before such a supplement could be published, again I accept the guilt of my nation in this as I hold a credit card.
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