The ways that GO!!! would address attrition in the Infantry, within the scope of current manning stressors.
1. Group punishment, inflicted by any leader, at any level, would automatically earn that individual an "NI" on their PDR in the "develops subordinates" bubble. Nothing crushes morale like being punished for something you did not do, especially when the same indviduals are earning you the punishment again and again, or there is a "moving tgt" in terms of the expected standard. This is not teamwork either - it creates an "us and them" mentality, which only serves to drive the team further apart.
2. Organise tasking and course nominations on the basis of who actually wants to go on them, although with due consideration given to operational and training requirements. Too often, the man nominated for that task to Wx was the hapless individual that put his hand up for the "who wants to learn to drive a motorbike" question, while another soldier who really wanted a short break from the Bn would have taken it if he knew what it was. Now you have two angry soldiers on your hands, as opposed to one happy one. I realise that some taskings are going to require a "voluntold", but I find that this is rarely the case. Taskings are used as punishments, when they could be used as short breaks from Bn life.
3. Mandate a once weekly "outside the box" training event. Ideas include cross country skiing, geo-caching (with map and compass instead of GPS), navigation using lat-long, emergency driver courses on vehicles we don't usually use (BV-206, LOSV, Leopard, LAV, AVGP etc.) and finally, cross training with other units to see exactly how the other side of the team works. (Learning small boat drills with the Engineers, gun drills with artillery units, setting up a directional antennae with sigs pl etc.) None of these ideas would require much money or kit, and in many cases we already have the items and instructors required at the lower levels. Events like this break the monotony of running for PT five days a week, and cleaning weapons in the afternoon, and provide more depth to the skill sets we already have.
4. Introduce a "working, working out, or gone" policy, where troops would be doing their assigned tasks for the day, working out and doing PT, or at home. There is no problem with sending your privates home at 1400 or 1500, providing all of the work is done, and they are in reasonably good shape (75+ on the Coopers test). This time is more than recouped on exercises and during such events as workup training and taskings, when long hours are the norm, and it builds goodwill towards the CoC.
5. Reign in the ability of NCOs to charge troops in "first offence" cases. In cases of an ND, drunkeness, theft, etc, fine, give it to 'em, but when minor infractions (such as a less than standard room inspection whilst the troops are deployed) are seeing troops doing the hatless dance, there is a great deal of animosity created, and for no good reason. Some disciplinary infractions would be better addressed with more time at the duty desk than a charge for every single problem.
6. Tell the truth. (this is not directed at any particular level of the CoC) There seems to be alot more information out there that the troops do not know, and should. The best example I can think of is that of the TF slated for 2007. We were told, on a Bn parade that one company would be going with the 3VP BG. Everyone was pleased - and why not? Then recently, other levels of the CoC tell us that "well, we don't have a mission yet. but we're working on it" The dismay in the room was tangible. Which is it? Why are we told one thing when it is known not to be true, or only partially true? If there is a deployment happening, great, let us know, but if there is only a small chance of it, the letdown when it is cancelled is far harder on the soldiers than the pleasant surprise that would have been if it had happened by surprise.
While the organisational aspect of many of these reformations would indeed imply a requirement of more work for the NCOs, I believe that this problem could be addressed by having events such as afternoon PT and non-standard training events organised at the MCpl level, for themselves and below. NCOs are busy alot of the time, and cutting the platoon away for training that is both relevant and interesting would seem to benefit all involved, providing interesting trg for the lower ranks, leadership opportunity for the middle ranks, and time to catch up on admin for the upper ranks.
I think that the idea that you must be hard on your troops to be a good leader is false, and while a certain degree of rigidity is required, and may have been the norm in the past, times are changing. If you want to retain smart, hard working people, you have to treat them as such, and IME, this does not happen. There always seems to be at least one member of the CoC who revels in screaming at his subordinates for little or no reason, ensuring they stay until 1700 daily, and singling out individuals for even worse treatment, whether they deserve it or not. This is what drives guys away - the accumulation of small annoyances that wears them down, and when these are topped off with not being deployed, push them to a release or not re-signing.
My 2 cents.
