The Unbearable Lightness of Being Sergeant Major

I think this section is dead on: "For example, is the Marine Corps' best served by having a professional cadre of senior enlisted Marines who no longer perform duties related to their years spent developing expert knowledge? Is a ground combat unit best served by a generalist senior enlisted leader without relevant experience?" For me, having seen Sergeants Majors strut around with a ton of authority and no responsibility, the answers to these question is NO.

I would be very interested to see what the results of a survey that  asked Commanders with senior enlisted advisors who do not have experience or training related to the unit in which they serve, what their value is the organization? Would commanders prefer to have a generalist, a specialist or forgoing a senior advisor in lieu of an additional Marine in the unit? I suspect Commanders would jump at the chance to have another junior enlisted Marine that have a Sergeant Major preening around, drinking coffee, going to the gym and knocking off early.