Stop referring to North as a retired Colonel. He's a retired Lieutenant Colonel.
Those of us with even a modicum of intelligence know exactly what the poster meant. The term Colonel is acceptable, just as it is acceptable to refer to a Lt. Commander as a Commander, or a Lt. Junior grade as a Lieutenant.
You seem to try awfully hard to give us the impression you have some kind of military experience. If you had, you wouldn't be as anal retentive as you are in your posts."