This is coolbert: What ideas did the Army have to make a force better equipped to fight enemies that would be able to more than match the U.S. Army numerically and not a whole less quantitatively? It was realized that the U.S. Army would have to just have soldiers that became better. Each and every GI, in the now all-volunteer Army, would just have to become better. Not necessarily the toughest soldiers, but the best. Able to perform at a high level, and do so as part of a team. From the lowest ranking private doing the most boring, mundane job, to the highest ranking General, everyone would just have to be a better soldier in every sense of the word. A lot of emphasis was placed on all NCO's becoming skilled in a lot of areas where not much emphasis had been placed before. All NCO's would have to attend NCO schools and become proficient at map reading, training, organizing a defensive perimeter, leadership, chemical warfare protection, etc. No matter what your MOS or function in the army, you had to be prepared to fight and fight well, and WIN! Knowing how to operate tactical and use the radio, conduct a road march, live rough and still perform your MOS to standard was the way to go. This was not easy for some GI's. Those who could not master the necessary skills were no longer required. If just numbers were not important any more, and they were not, quality had to become important. Especially when the public was supporting an all-volunteer force that could be called professional. [I have read that among foreign armies, the U.S. militaries officer corps is considered to be the best in the world. Educated, experienced, and capable. Again, not the toughest, but the best].

coolbert.