I love the term apolitical meritocracy, though I have never heard it before you mentioned it in your post. Non-political and merit (ONLY) based are wonderful things! :)
It sounds near impossible to even pass Navy OCS judging by what you said. That must have been some seriously grueling coursework, classes, etc.!!
If you go back as far as the Constitutional Convention you can read in the minutes James Madison wrote of the constant fear expressed of a standing army taking over the government. That concern was drilled into generations of officers and became an overriding value for those pursuing a military career.
Meritocracy was a reaction to the British practice of the purchase of commissions by royalty.