ie: a 22 year Captain is not doing much to stimulate new thinking and ways of doing things. If his career was on the line, he would probably seek the requisite education to both broaden his horizons and become promotable
Hey- you just called my name! I am that Captain (well, almost)- I have 20 years in this month and have been a Capt for 14 of those years.
It is not always as simple to "become promotable" as you imply. I was an Artillery Officer for 9 years. I sat thru Career manager brief after career manager brief in the mid 90's where the message was "zero promotions to Major this year. Maybe one next year. Sorry guys."
How do you "become promotable" in an environment like that?
Finally, I had enough and left the Artillery for the Air Force- not so much for lack of promotions, but that did play a part. I had a real sense that the work we Captains were doing as a group in developing doctrine, moving things forward and generally holding the place together (being the most numerous officer rank) was distinctly undervalued by the senior Artillery leadership. At one point, I had one very senior Artillery officer basically dare me to leave the Regiment. I called his bluff. About 80 other Captains did too, in a 3 year period. Ironically, had I hung on, I would have gotten promoted and gotten my Battery Command. Eventually.
The point I'm trying to make is that the price of getting promoted was not worth it to me. I would have had to become unbelievably careerist and ambitious. Tell me, GO!, does this sound like what you want in your boss? Because that is what an up or out system causes- rampant careerism- IMHO.
What I am today is a very happy MH Navigator Captain who has commanded a HELAIRDET on a Frigate. I also speaks Army, and am able to understand the operational language of the Navy, Air Force and Army (sound handy in today's environment?). I have friends and contacts in all three services that I regularily call on for favours and advice and vice-versa. I keep up on doctrine. I have written my fair share of doctrine. I am an experienced leader (my former subordinates will be the judge of my worth as a leader, however). I am physically fit. And I really could not care less if I am ever promoted to Major. I am having too much fun trying to make the CF a better place- one job at a time.
Under your proposed "kill all of the old Captains" system, I would not exist.
Now, I ask you and the assembled masses here- Does it sound like a good idea to just arbitrarily cut off someone's career after 'X' amount of years, or should we maybe apply some common sense and flexibility and keep our better performers (regardless of rank and years of service)?
Cheers!