And the ass hats refer to the citizens they work for as civilians.
For a little while I worked around a bunch of Government employees with badges. The kind that also traveled around the world doing shifty things while wearing body armor and wearing all the tactical gear.
One day they were all talking about the "civilians" and I calmly mentioned they were also civilians. They all looked at me and I straight out told them they were not in the US Military and were civilian law enforcement and should remember such. The senior man look at me and told me I was right.