[OldPossum]

I had a hearty laugh when I first came across this story. The Times staff is so ignorant of military matters--I doubt that there's a day's worth of military service among the entire editorial staff--that they could not recognize that a private (a private!) could be speaking for a division. A division is so large that it is commanded by a major (two-star) general. A spokesman for such a unit would not of a lower rank than a lieutenant colonel. What ignorance!

[OldPossum]

A little awkwardness in one part of my previous post: "they could not realize that a private (a private!) could NOT be speaking..."