This is a great article and thanks for posting it. I had a few initial thoughts as I considered what I'd read. First, the notion of supporting generalists is at the core of the historical philosophy of Liberal Arts educations. The promise of liberal arts education is to enable individuals to hone critical thinking skills through study of a range of content with the expectation that those people will be able to identify patterns and apply knowledge in a way that is valuable to them and to others. Based on my very limited understanding of SAs, it appears that over time these institutions have moved away from a broader liberal arts curriculum towards greater STEM specialization. I wonder if being incented to focus studies early on at a SA creates the conditions where future officers come to believe that either they don't want to continue in their chosen field (if perhaps it wasn't a great choice for them) or that doing so in the armed forces is no longer the right path.
Second, as my own son is pursuing the goal of attending a SA, I have been thinking quite a bit about the ideas of service and sacrifice. Grit and sacrifice go hand in hand, because it takes courage and conviction to persevere in circumstances when the simpler choice is to stop. On these forums and beyond, much is written about the desire to serve and participate in something larger than one's self. At the same time, the notion of sacrifice - physical and emotional hardship, distance, "hurry up and wait" and "embrace the suck" - is very commonly described as a key element of being part of an armed service.
I wonder if the intersection between these two ideas can't describe the decrease in the number of senior career officers from academies. If the amount of sacrifice required begins to outweigh the desire to serve, and/or the opportunities beyond the service begin to look too attractive (especially in light of the sacrifices required NOT to pursue them), then the choice to exit the military might make a lot of sense for an individual.
As i write this I realize that this is leading me down the path toward the "self-centered young generation vs the selflessness of generations in the past" so I'll leave it here
Again - thanks for posting and helping me think about this a bit
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