I agree with you here. The army got rid of the “Specialist-5” and above ranks for this reason, because NCOs are expected to be both technically and tactically proficient leaders. Conversely, I could argue that if the only responsibility they wanted to give the Army was to be technical specialists – they should never have accepted or recommended for a promotion beyond E4. My background is combat arms, so I admit I am viewing this through my lense. I don’t see us as an officer corps doing us or NCOs any favors by letting them become technical specialists at the expense of their tactical leadership.