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

I am going to attack this as simply as possible.

I see there being three parts to this problem.

Manpower, equipment, and for lack of a better term real estate.

1. Manpower.

Recruiting is already so selective that recruiters are turning potential soldiers away becasue they have already met there quota and the standards of entry have been restricted. With current programs such as Bars to reenlistment, flags, chapters, and med boards the ranks will thin out as long as the recruiters are held in check.

2. Equipment.

The Military stands to recoup a lot of it's investment in equipment if they so choose. There are thousands of excess vehicles, computers, weapons, tools, and various small end items that could be sold to lessen the financial strain. The downside to this is if anything big happens we will most likely bring the fighting force back up to full strength and we will need the equipment again. The key thing to be done is to stop upgrading things like vehicles all the time. Wait until a need is identified and then spend the money on it.

Real Estate.

The military has to many bases, camps, forts, and so on. These are expensive to maintain and to staff. We need to consolidate our active duty installations and leave the smaller more remote bases to the reserves/guard forces.

Now to pick one of these items.

I believe that the most important thing the military should do while downsizing is preserve the knowledge and lessons learned in deserving members of it's current manpower. We have to carefuly consider is it more cost effective to separate somebody or bring them within the standards of rentention. Did we spend more money training them then it will save us getting rid of them?  Do they meet an operational need? The most valuable asset the military has is it's personnel. Are there members of other branches who cannot stay in their branch due to force reductions who can fill the ranks in another branch without recruiting and training a new service member? If the answer to these questions is yes (which I believe in most cases it is) then the way ahead is clear.

The most important thing the military should do while going through this downsizing period is to focus on the fundamentals. Get back to basics and keep only essential training. Keep those with the best attitude and best performance.

If the numbers are still too high, keep raising the bar based on performance and attitude. We will be left with men and women with the level of professionalism to carry forward in these leaner economic times.