Defense Secretary Ash Carter unveiled the "first tranche" of his Force of the Future initiatives Wednesday. They included none of the costly or controversial ideas that his personnel chief, Brad Carson, had brainstormed with Pentagon and private sector personnel experts since last April, including ending the up-or-out promotion system, dramatic "on-ramps" to military service at mid grade, structural changes to the military pay chart, expansion of parental leave for military or civilian employees, and new "technical career" path for high-demand skills. The initiatives instead are no-cost or low-cost commitments that the Defense Department will work smarter and try more modern ideas for attracting, nurturing and assigning its military and civilian work forces. The theme is more aggressive talent management. For more details, see this Military Advantage blog post.