I'm glad to read an "up close and personal" professional assessment of the current SF Candidates. I'm very glad to read such a positive report. FWIW I'm part of the generation that included the first peacetime experiment with "SF Babies" and personally, I don't think we did as well as the kids (I use the term loosely and affectionately) today must just to meet the demands of the times.
Despite a few misgivings in the details, I think history will judge the 18X program a success. A lot of effort has gone into correcting some of the mistakes of the past; certainly into meeting the evolved requirements of the GWOT. The rigorous selection and training pipeline these guys are going through and the attempt/pass ratios speak for themselves.
Today's SF soldier leaves the "Q" Course better prepared to meet the challenges facing them than at any time in the past. Many go straight to combat deployments. They don't get the years of post detail, questionable exercises, unit training, and hanging out in the team room learning to "get along" that I and my peers had. Almost all of our "polish" came at the hands of team sergeants and/or the "tender mercies" of team mates. It showed in retention rates, discipline problems, and how well we integrated into the teams.
There will always be the ocassional problem child. The greater the pressure to make numbers and meet the needs of the force, the greater the odds of one "slipping through the cracks". This time I don't think they (the problem children) will define the program. As long as the community remembers that it's everybody's job to (attempt to) integrate the new guys, and mentor them when required, the future is assured - and from here it looks pretty good.
(Now if we can just get leadership to focus on UW and winning the current mess.
) Peregrino