I have a lot more respect for a Sgt. Major, a Gunnery Sargent, a CPO, or a Senior master Sargent than any officer Colonel and above, why?
The Non-Coms earned their rank. Colonels and above were politically awarded their ranks.
Full disclosure; E5 USAF 73-78.
True. This dead general was a political appointee whose father helped murder over 22,000 Poles at Katyn back in 1940.