Pat Carroll - loved the post.
Scott Ludwig - couldn't agree more.
Ernie Sands, Bill Peters, Pat Carroll, Scott Ludwig - might take another 8 years in this Club before those 4 agree on a topic!
Ned Simms - love the concept, need to noodle on how to make that happen, and would love to hear ideas. I suspect Joe Meyer would as well, we used to talk with DS Walter about a Leadership Academy to help us out there.
Our current rank system provides a good balance, and has served us well. I'm unaware of any proposed changes that would either:
A - Improve retention or growth
B - Simplify administration responsibilities for commanders
Seems like most (if not all) of the proposals would potentially make those items worse.
As for rank tied to current position within the Club - if one wanted to keep your General's stars, they wouldn't move out of command positions, and would bottle up growth below them. If we feel that those stars are a motivation to serve (I believe they are, and certainly the Rules are intended to reflect that), then what I described is a likely consequence to any change that would take rank away if not in certain positions.
I also think taking away rank is a lousy way to thank those folks who put in the time and service to achieve them in the first place. Let's face it, other than the blue toe tips for Pat, that's ALL the rank really is - a recognition of THANKS from the Club. Doesn't make you better, doesn't differentiate between wins and losses on the battlefield.
Raising the points totals negatively impacts newer folks. It's good that they have frequent early motivation and reward. At least I found that to be true for me when I joined.