I agree 7 years may be a little excessive but I think 3-4 years would be manageable on both sides. What I think the General is proposing is more flexibility with AD careers. You have two very rigid systems competing against each other right now: AD retirement vs airline seniority. The current system only allows for one winner either the airlines or the AD military and the AD side is getting slaughtered.
If programs were available that would let you flow back and forth between the two then I think you would see a lot more guys staying on AD.You can argue that the function of the reserves is to allow this kind of flexibility but if the AD side wants to keep people they need to start becoming more innovative with their career progression and not just keep tossing money at the problem.