Originally Posted by
Gundriver64
I don't want to sound overly bitter, but the caliber of O-4/O-5s I am working with these days (Army) aren't going to be SECDEF/CoS material not now, not ever. 99.99% of the time casual conversation always reverts to their career (stressing about requisite KD time or making the next grade). I rarely hear the enlisted obsess over their "career" and the WOs just want to get the job done. I've sat through numerous O-6 CUBs (theater and garrison), and there wasn't much at all "strategic" about them.
Fortunately we only need that pool to produce a relatively tiny handful of epic strategic leaders. I've done a lot of joint, and compared to the Army and AF, the Navy and the USMC do have a better culture in that regards, more leaders who got there by taking care of their men and mission before themselves.
I didn't understand this until I had been in for twenty years.
I agree with kbay, warrants are not inherently less good than anyone else, but it's a different role, and you have to manage the expectations and dynamics if you have two distinct groups whose jobs and careers overlap. Also you should have a REASON to establish a separate group, because there will be costs and hassles in doing that, so you need to know what the ROI is and make sure you get it. If the warrants were to leave for airlines faster than the academy grads, that probably didn't accomplish the intent.