What's the most important thing the military should do while going through this downsizing period?

I can only speak to the AF side of the house, but I believe the evaluation/promotion system needs to be overhauled.  Too many maxed EPS/OPRs; these are supposed to be reserved for the elite performers, not the "show up and do your job performers."  Too many people in positions of leadership are willing to accept mediocrity instead of excellence; I agree with PO2 Fox's comments above.  DoD Civilian personnel need to be subject to the same scrutiny; it's near impossible to get an underperforming civilian out of their job when I can find eager and hardworking vets who are focused on the mission instead of a paycheck.

I think we need to focus on leadership and the advancement process. The best test takers aren't always the best leaders, but it's the test takers that get advanced. Leadership is about performance, not test scores. 

The downsizing is a necessary event that will ultimately be beneficial for the effectiveness and efficiency of the military.

The most important thing that our beloved are can do during a time like this is thoroughly evaluate, and retain at all costs, our combat tested, proven, and effective junior and senior Non-Commissioned Officers. We currently have the greatest, battle hardened and tested NCO Corp in the last 100 years. I don't mean just in our country- in the world. To lose that resource would, I fear, drag our fighting force back to the bad old days that damn near ended the United States Army as an effective fighting force both during the last days of, and for years after the Vietnam war. I was privileged to enlist at a great time of modernization, and return to the roots of our NCO led force, 1994, and saw first hand how our combat tested NCO's got the job done. Oh, and they made sure the new junior leaders benefitted from their wisdom to keep the Green Machine runnin' smooth. Desert Storm, and follow on operations in the Middle East proved this without a doubt. Our biggest enemy within the ranks now is "political correctness", and the outright "sissy-fication" of what was once the most efficient and feared fighting force the world has ever known. The feeling of pride and confidence that was instilled in me via a Warfighter environment and training left no doubt in mine, and my comrades' minds, that not only were we the best, but there was no chance- ever - that we could lose. We knew that we could get hurt, or even die. But the mission would be accomplished. Period. We weren't arrogant, just supremely confident that we were the best in the world. Ever. That Warfighter mentality is fast being destroyed because of   the idea that our Army needs to be a test bed for every "social justice" experiment that whoever passes for the "Good Idea Fairy" in Washington comes up with. Leave the defense of our Nation to the sheep dogs. Not the sheep. 

As a military, we must get back to the values that make us great - that make us the standard by which the rest of the world is measured. If we are to do less with more, we must ensure that those who remain are of the highest moral character and will make the most of what we have and what we have to do. We have been consistently called upon to do that which others can't under circumstances that make others shrink and fall back. If we are to succeed in this time of downsizing, we don't have the luxury of relying on numbers to get the right people in the right places. We must retain the right Soldiers until that's all there is left.

There is way too much training for stuff we don't do down range. Take for instance the C-130H, we haven't flown SKE operationally since Vietnam, why are we still wasting up to 60-70% of a training sortie to practice this archaic TTP?  Just go through the list of CBTs we have to accomplish and how many get added each year. Just because it's new doesn't mean it's a good idea. If it doesn't provide a benefit to the force don't require us to so it. The ORM CBT hasn't been updated for 5 yrs. We are in a big push for going green and energy savings, let's also focus that attention on physical energy. With a downsizing force we must do more with less, each individual will be taking on more additional duties and having to accomplish those tasks we were once able to sparingly distribute to our members. So if this is the case, we need to immediately identify the tasks that are either redundant or that provide no direct benefit to our current operations.  OEF has tired out force, the physical and mental energy is depleted and we need to find ways to recharge it. 

 A change in culture... When facing a situation of limited resources combined with consequent downsizing, the word efficiency normally is ventured into the conversation.  However, discussing efficiency cannot be uttered without tremendous consideration for effectiveness.  Therefore, I would say perception of today's reality is the most importantant thing all leaders should focus on. A discussion in messaging may help shift perception from hopelessness to a desire to innovate.  

One of the biggest issues with downsizing is the size of the bureaucracy. Bureaucracies are built to compensate for under-performing organizations/people but there comes a time when the system becomes a "self-licking ice cream cone." DOD leaders need to invest in reducing the bureaucratic structure of the services, which will then require fewer bodies.<div><br></div><div>Part of reducing the bureaucracy is changing the rules of hiring and retention of military and civilian personnel. Getting top performers, and retaining them, will allow the organization to be more efficient and effective. That, in turn, allows the structure to shrink because there are fewer rules needed to keep the top performers in check.</div>

Alignment, the bases and Command Staff require a re-alignment of personnel, programs, and services.  Their is to much redundancy, in the layers of Command. that perform similar functions, roles, and responsibilities plus up one staff and eliminate the position not the person.  Align personnel in the areas that require additional resources.  Evaluate the logistic template aircraft, ships, and technology systems that are no longer sustainable or antiquated look at how to phase them out. 

The first thing is to make a concerted effort to retain the very best personnel. I use to hate it when people I thought were awesome soldiers would leave the service. The next thing we need to do is make sure that those top notch soldiers who do leave active duty are given all the information on National Guard and Reserve options. In a time of crisis we need to have these assets easily at hand. I know when I left there was no effort at all to inform about the Guard or Reserves. This process needs to star while they are still in, not after they get out.