Maybe have companions be set to the lvl of whoever finds them
IMO we should have a contest to make builds for mercs and have the top 3 builds for each class randomly assigned when the merc spawn. So lets say you find a bg guy, he will have a randomly selected prefab build and his lvl will match your own. Same goes with sg and throwing. You also shouldn't have to tell them every time they respawn to show up at your tent, they should respawn every time they die unless their loyalty is at 0 with a way of easily checking their %, possibly info in pipboy.
Would be actually interesting that after every level you could tell the merc how to improve itself.You get options for every skill the merc can use and an order to raise them. After every 3 levels you could have a limited choice of perks like toughness, lifegivers, crits, action boys.
Why do you think it's necessary?