With the Army pushing civilian education so hard, are we losing sight on training Soldiers to be leaders first?

Actually, I think it is the other way around.  As a supply SGT I have worked with several junior officers who think that they have more knowledge then me in the logistics field, because they have a degree.  Then I explain to them not only do I have several degrees I also have the experience.  If anything having a formal education has made me a better leader, which allows me to train my soldiers more on logistical capabilities.

You should be able to have both. when a soldier would bring me a TA, i looked at the time period and length of the course. compare it to our quarterly training schedules. if there was no conflict such as going to NTA or field training etc, then it would be approved. Brown bag classes during lunch were never a problem and were excused the 10-15 mintutes after  lunch to get back to work. if we were in the field, we stayed committed to the TA we signed and would truck those with classes back in at night and back after class. so my soldiers had no problem going to class if i approved their TA. now there were a few times no bodies TA got approved during certain periods of training that they would have to be there, but once we got through what ever it was, they could signup for courses and i would make sure they could go. so it dont have to be either/or, leaders can make both happen!

I have already achieved my education goals but years ago I brought a TA assistance form to my squad leader and this was his question, "Why do you want to go to college" his tone of voice and demeanor was as if he said, "That's a waste of time".  Needless to say the commander allowed me to go to college but this guy was a hard[expletive] and he'd try to find ways for me to miss classes by having me stay late after work, or putting me on details or going out of his way to place me on CQ on Saturday because I had classes on Saturdays in Korea.  I was once a few pounds over and he immediately told me to go drop out of class and hang it up because I am getting flagged for being over wait.  My 1SG gave me two weeks to loose the weight and I of course lost more than two pounds.  He clearly did not like me.  This is 2000-2001 in Korea when pushing a broom was more important than going to college.