Quick clarification, a soldier who makes the minimum grade may not necessarily be a "minimum soldier", but one who strives for such a grade surely would classify as such. Im assuming thats what you were moving on aesop?
For the bent out of shape bit, I've seen a couple of guys act as if their career was over because they accumulated too many red chits or simply didnt get an award at grad. Not the case in any means, in fact...some of the top soldiers who earned alot of my respect on my BMQ and SQ are no longer in the Army.