I share some of these concerns, they are legit.
But mitigating factors...
The officer corps has always been a different caste whether made up of educated elite, or the children, grandchildren, etc of officers. I suspect they were more insular in past when most everyone lived on base...now at least the majority of officers tend to live out in town. Also modern communications and social media mechanisms keep us all in closer touch, whether we want to be or not...after being deployed for 20 years it wasn't much of a leap for a Roman legion to come home and cross the Rubicon.
But most of the officers came in with some ideals and still have a connection with the people because they all know their service is temporary...they can't stay in forever unless they are promoted to O-9/O-10. I would be somewhat concerned if we modify the retirement system to eliminate the 20-year pension and subsequently let most folks stay in to age 60+...then you would create a civil-service like organization which would be primarily self-serving (google "IRS scandal" for more details). It would also be far less dynamic as it gets clogged with older, set-in-their-ways people.
As a product of the professional military system, I'm very leery of a draft just for the sake of having a draft. 30 years ago we could take almost anyone without physical or mental impairments and whip them into shape, but now days with all the touchy-feely sensitivity crap there's no way you could force someone to play whose heart was not in to begin with.
The reserves are actually a great counter-balance to this concern...as long as they are utilized enough so that the active duty gets to know and trust them they can serve as a liaison between America and it's military.
But grain of salt...this is a NY Times article. I have some lingering (and growing suspicion) that some people in the government would prefer to dilute not only the size and capability of the military but also it's character...right now it is probably the only component of the federal government which could (if push came to shove) be relied upon to stand by the people rather than those shoveling slop into the federal trough. For all this talk of an insular military, the vast majority of the triggers pullers are junior enlisted....first or second term types who retain close ties with the hometown they came from, and are not planning on a military career.
No, this is not a conspiracy theory, I don't think anyone is planning anything it's just the natural progression as we drift towards a socialist nanny-state...eventually the nanny could morph into Big Brother.