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.