From someone who has seen this from the inside, my take on the article's 7 points:
1) Too many Generals. Yep. The DoD bureaucracy has grown exponentially since 9/11, mostly because the budget spigot for every "great idea" was turned full open and remained that way for a decade. The Intelligence Community has grown exponentially, and its levels of bureaucracy has grown with it. This needs to be slashed, BIG TIME.
But let's also look at the civilian oversight of the DoD, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and THAT staff. The US Military has 1,000 General Officers leading a little over 2.1 men and women. OSD has over 430 Senior Executive Staff (SES) officers (General Officer equivalents), leading about 30,000 civilians. And you think the Military's bureaucracy is top heavy!
The simple solution isto drastically cut the bureaucracy in both organizations. The DoD continually sees this, and in flashes of ironic brilliance, creates a new office, complete with GO leadership, to review the problem. Simply stated, bureaucracies are probalby the most dificult to kill of all "dragons".
2) Bloated General staffs. Not so much as one thinks. Look, I for one see what the typical GO's daily schedule looks like. Not many CEOs have as much responsibility, or as full a daily calendar, as most military generals. I GET they need staffs to take care of the little things, just like the CEOS of Ford, IBM, GE, and every other big business does. I do get a little upset that they get this kiond of treatment at home, but then again a typical Capt isn't expected to be attend, or host, the number of "social" events these GOs do.
3) Scandals. Simple answer: screw up in the military with illigal activity such as some of these scandals = jail time and/or lose your retirement benefits. Not many GOs want to do that to a fellow GO however, and neither does the SecDEF. Answer -- take the punishment out of THEIR hands and put into the hands of someone not so intimately close to the DoD. Whom this should fall to is a little tricky - perhaps federal judges?
4) Warped sense of reality. Yep, it happens, and to levels I'm a little uncomfortable with. They simply DON"T KNOW or don't remember what it was like to be "one of the little people". I expect the spotlight on this situation is gonna temper that for a little while, at least.
I am also the first to say it comes at a price, as in you're working 18+ hour days, 365 days a year, tied to a Blackberry on the other 6. No such thing as an "end of the work day" or "weekend" for the GOs (and I know, there are some in the civilian world who have that as well. They get compensated for it better financially, however. An dI'm betting the CEOs of GM have it a little better in regards to "perks", with less responsibility).
5) Golf. Stupid point, as these are paid for with MWR funds for every military member and retiree to use. Simply stated: it is ILLEGAL to use DoD budget to fund these, it all comes out of a separate bucket of money. See that 3% surcharge on your BX / Commissary receipt? It comes form that. And they STILL make you pay to actually play a round. Like I said, stupid (and incorrect) point from the article author.
Also, don't tell the article's author now, but most bases also have free gyms! The horror! Actually having nice recreational activities for our troops! We should be so ashamed....
6) Bands. One band for each service -- period. The rest need to simply go away. Need music for your next parade, General? Buy an Ipod and a speaker system. They don't get a salary and benefits.
7) The express train to a cushy defense contracting job? OK, I'm a living example of this, but not at the Exec VP level that most GOs expect. And why do the GOs get hired as Exec VPs when they retire? It's not WHAT they know, but WHO they know -- they have access to the current General's calendar for private "visits", moslty becuase these current GOs used to work for them. They're hired for "networking", and if they don't produce in 5 years (when they can rely less on being able to "network" becuase a new crop they have no influence over is now in charge), they are shown the door by their new bosses.
So, simple solution: 5 year moratorium from date of retirement to date whaen they can work for a Defense Contractor, or date when they can meet with current DoD leadership.
Also simple solutions (and have been recommened before). The probelm is once the spot ligth recedes, the system goes back to "status quo", mostly becuase "status quo" is rather nice, and the GOs are the ones making the rules.