Liquid, fair enough, Ill concede some of the points as you apparently have more intimate knowledge of the discrepancies than I do. I, for one, didn't mind Cannon a whole lot, but I was gone most of the time. I will however, expand on my point of emphasis. This is not about Cannon AFB per se. The ip so facto logic you use to conclude that individuals are separating merely because they don't want to go to Cannon misses the entire issue. You need to look at it from a holistic perspective. For many, an assignment to Cannon-doing exactly the same thing they just spent 4-6 years doing at HRT-is the proverbial straw. Does that make them bad people or officers? To some, apparently yes. But if officership to you means blindly following what your service asks you to do, then I would draw a parallel to the SS. We need folks to think for themselves, make personal decisions, and question why it is their service asks them to do certain things. Without that, we quickly slide down a dangerous slope. But back on topic, leadership needs to acknowledge the incontrovertible reality-most folks did not join the service with an intent to pursue an illustrious, start-studded career. They joined to fly cool planes, get money for college, or because they threw a dart at the board of indecisiveness-or perhaps because they were motivated by certain events. But, at the end of the day, please don't foster an environment in which you criticize or patronize folks for not accepting an assignment, when they probably have 3-5 times as many combat hours as yourself, 3-5 times as many deployments, and are half your age. These are the folks who have watched their families walk out the door while they answered the call and put up the numbers which you put on your OPR that got you promoted in the first place. Not everyone is fortunate to have a family as understanding and devoted as you have. I'm not trying to make this a stupid dick measuring contest, and I may be way off, but leadership is about people; in order to lead people you have to know them, understand them, and accept their limitations. Finally, you need to be honest with them. Was there some shadyness with the acquisition of Cannon? Ill bet my balls to the bandsaw on it. Do we necessarily need to bring that up? No, of course not, but why do we always have to church this shit up? Way can't we just be honest with our folks? And why would we decide to move a ton of folks to a place that so obviously lacked sufficient infrastructure to support them? Thats selling your people out, and people remember that shit. I know dudes who literally lived in barns when they got there. When there's a need, the crew dawgs will follow you to hell and back, don't take that for granted, and don't use it as an excuse to dismiss the fundamental problem here: people are leaving because most of the leadership we have (or at least that I've seen) doesn't deserve the level of sacrifice that folks are already making. Our leadership isn't cut out to serve the people they "lead." Ironic, considering how much time we spend focusing on leadership. Also ironic how these folks, who spend so much time preaching service before self, are the ones who spend the most time carefully shepherding their own careers.