[LadyDoc]

your argument for a year of work in the “real world” is true for any high school graduate.

as for officers: there is an argument to work oneself up in the ranks, but since some officers are specialized and their ranks require officer status, that is not true for everyone. The talents are different: Being a private does not necessarily make one a better officer, indeed, too much sympathy for the ranks can lead to them getting killed. McClellan (?SP) in the Civil war comes to mind...

I gave a biography of McArthur to a WWII Navy vet, and he was astounded that the book pointed out that his brilliance saved many many lives....

But McArthur was an aristocrat. Ironically, he is beloved here in the Philippines, because he treated local elites as equals and took care of the peons, but US soldiers hated him because he saw them as peons too....

[Svartalfiar]

your argument for a year of work in the “real world” is true for any high school graduate.

Haha yea, it;s true for anyone.

but since some officers are specialized and their ranks require officer status, that is not true for everyone.

Huh? Every officer is specialized in whatever field they're in. And yes, their 'rank' requires officer status, because it's an officer position. That's what the rank is. An officer rank. I'm not saying officers should be placed into an enlisted position, or vice versa, I'm saying someone should have experience as enlisted before they try to commission, in which case they will change from their enlisted MOS to a different officer position.