Oh, I know. They want to cut 25K from the USMC. The problem is a lot of the best and brightest are who is leaving......the remainder of the best and brightest have't yet realized they can't save the world and can't stop the machine.....Dagney Taggart syndrome.
Don't worry, they want females in the infantry too. The infantry will soon be nothing more than fruits and females.
The beatings will continue until morale improves.
How would Panetta know? Has he asked the same ticket punching careerist “officers” who sell out their soldiers, marines and SEALS by courtmartialing them for killing the enemy or—SEALS case—for punching them in the nose? Panetta is a politician and what can you expect? But the moral cowardice of the senior uniformed leadership breaks the heart and makes one fear for the future of a once-proud military.