[MuttTheHoople]

Now the Soviet Army and the Imperial Japanese Army both treated their enlisted soldiers like dirt, and they could do nothing without someone leading them.

When the Soviets and Americans met at the Elbe at the end of WWII, the Soviets were astounded that an American 1st Lieutenant had as much authority as a Soviet colonel.

In 1994, I was in boot camp with a Russian emigre' who was drafted into the Soviet Army in the mid-1980's. He told me that the Sergeants had no real authority at all, and it was the Officers who were giving the orders. Of course, in the US Army, the E-5's, 6's, and 7's are the backbone.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Even some that weren't technically NCOs.