For a somewhat modern example of how things might go, we could look at the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front. I'm not especially well-versed on the subject, but the reading I've done suggests that the Germans promoted by responsibility without necessarily adding rank. When the regiment is down to 200 men, there's a logic to this. Therefore, it makes sense that the NCOs would get used for a slew of things that the officers used to do.
It's difficult to say how much normalcy would last until 2000. The US Army (and armies in general) is rather dichotomous regarding change. In some ways, the Army resists change as hard as possible. In other ways, the Army embraces change very readily. SACEUR in 1998 may feel that holding on to the pre-nuke traditions is good for morale, orderliness, etc. On the other hand, his commanders and sergeants major might be telling him that things have to change if we're going to make it, sir. Certainly, the Pact offensive that summer should teach the NATO types that the war isn't over just because the basis of mechanized warfare has been dismembered by the nuclear exchange. A great deal of change will be needed quickly. There will be strong pressures to keep things that don't obviously need to be changed the same, and there will be strong pressures to make dramatic changes in anticipation of the next round of fighting. How all that plays out depends a good deal on SACEUR's personality, it seems to me.
Webstral
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