SecDef's Personnel Problem

One quote from Sec. Gates' recent Foreign Affairs piece has been raising questions in my mind. Here's the statement:

One of the enduring issues the military struggles with is whether personnel and promotions systems designed to reward the command of American troops will be able to reflect the importance of advising, training, and equipping foreign troops -- something still not considered a career-enhancing path for the best and brightest officers.

This might present some challenges for Mr. Gates and his successors. As a result of a policy directive during Mr. Rumsfeld's tenure, the services are all required to create communities of officers that oversee the "advising, training, and equipping foreign troops"--the Foreign Area Officers.

These officers, while they have a background in a warfare specialty, are no longer eligible to command line units like battalions, ships and squadrons. Is there a move afoot to shift back to the old way of doing business whereby officers developed foreign area experience as an additional qualification instead of a primary specialty? It will be interesting to see if and how this personnel problem gets addressed.