At Fort Bliss, Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Weimer asked senior NCOs to rate their excitement to return to the Force on a 1-10 scale. This direct inquiry, made during a Leader Professional Development (LPD) session on May 11, 2026, exposed a critical vulnerability in the military's leadership pipeline: flagging morale and engagement. Weimer engaged students of the Sergeants Major Course (SMC) Class 76 at the U.S. Army Noncommissioned Officer Academy, signaling a potential crisis for future leadership training and organizational development efforts.
Military leadership training remains highly structured and internal, but civilian leadership development programs are rapidly expanding their reach and diversifying their offerings. These civilian options aim to meet broader societal demands for agile and effective leadership.
Organizations relying solely on traditional, internal leadership development models may find themselves outpaced by more agile, community-integrated approaches, potentially leading to a gap in leadership effectiveness and engagement. This shift risks a critical talent drain to the more dynamic private sector.
Gauging Preparedness: The Army's Internal Assessment
- One question posed to Sergeants Major Course students asked them to rate their excitement to return to the Force as a Sergeant Major on a 1-10 scale, according to Dvidshub.
- Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Weimer posed seven vital questions to the NCOs as a self-assessment for preparedness, according to dvidshub.net.
Sergeant Major Weimer's pointed questions, including the 'excitement to return' rating, expose a leadership pipeline grappling with deep-seated morale issues. This direct self-assessment, a critical component of his seven vital questions, aims to confront internal preparedness head-on, but it simultaneously underscores the Army's vulnerability to a talent drain towards more appealing civilian opportunities.
Civilian Programs See Explosive Growth
Shafer Leadership Academy, in 2015, operated as a modest venture, serving approximately 500 people annually, with with two staff members and a budget under $200,000, according to Muncie Journal. This initial footprint belied its future trajectory.
As of the 2022-2023 reporting period, the academy's reach has exploded. It serves about 7,000 individuals each year through approximately 400 programs across eight counties and five states, supported by a team of five and a budget of about $800,000, according to Muncie Journal. This dramatic expansion confirms a surging demand for agile, community-based leadership training that transcends conventional institutional frameworks.
The stark contrast between Shafer Leadership Academy's seven-year, 14x growth and the military's comparatively static internal programs suggests a critical oversight: the armed forces are underestimating the civilian sector's formidable capacity to develop and retain leadership talent. This exponential growth in civilian offerings, far outpacing specific military-affiliated initiatives, creates a widening competitive gap for leadership acquisition.
Broadening the Scope: Practical Skills and Networks
On May 14, 2026, twenty-seven members of Fort Sill's civilian workforce graduated as Cohort 008 of the Leadership Fort Sill program, according to Army Mil. This initiative delivers leadership training tailored for its civilian employees within a military context.
Participants in programs like Leadership Fort Sill gain practical experience in problem-solving and build cross-functional networks. They engage through monthly sessions that include leadership instruction, organizational tours, mentorship, and crisis management exercises, according to Army.mil.
Even with internal civilian leadership initiatives like Fort Sill's, the military's efforts appear dwarfed by the explosive expansion of independent civilian development organizations. These civilian programs, even those with military affiliations, fundamentally prioritize practical, hands-on experience and robust network building — a critical shift in modern leadership skill development. If current trends persist, by mid-2026, the military's internal programs, exemplified by Fort Sill's 27-member cohort, will likely fall further behind the expansive reach of civilian academies like Shafer Leadership Academy, which serves 7,000 individuals annually.
