...the old saying, what is new is old again and visa versa... my first 6 years of service with the United States Navy...very early 1960s... had a lot of “left over” swabbies from the WWII era... a number of them had more “hash marks” (i.e. service stripes - each stripe was 4 years of service..) below the elbow than they had above... i.e., E-4s and E-5s...I believe many retired with 20 years of service without ever having gone above the rank they held at that time.... ahhh, the days of “iron ships and wooden men.....”
Air Force was different. There was a WAPS system meaning those who could pass written tests had the advantage. This led to younger nco’s getting that 5th stripe a lot quicker than the not-so-smart. Created resentment. Same as that stupid Senior Airman title. NCO’s resented teenage ncos who played loud music and didn’t respect the uniform. Looking back it may have been right but then they allowed 10% of the airman first class folks to avoid the senior airman by competing against the others. I’m sure it had more than those 10% turning on each other. I could never have been a lifer. Some of them were the most resentful toward the Air Force.
A cousin, my dad’s age, enlisted in the Navy in 1939. He ended WWII as the top enlisted NCO/Petty Officer rank. Since he had maxed out his rank he just kept adding service hash marks until he retired in 1963.