Save the “Lecture”. I have 20 years experience in the US Military. AND I had a FRONT-ROW seat to “Tailhook ‘91”. I then saw the Officer Corps(Navy and Marine Corps) cover each other’s 6 with things that would have gotten enlisted people a General Courts-Matial and a BCD. SO SAVE IT.
Why don’t you save it. I had 22+ years experience enlisted and officer. I saw what happened to the Navy officers during Tailhook and very few escaped. The junior and mid-level officers were scapegoated while some of the more senior got off lightly. I witnessed this same thing with AF and Army officers as well. Enlisted members who got into fights, drunk and disorderly, had affairs with officers were usually given a demotion or a fine, rarely a courts martial and sent on their way to rebuild their careers. For officers, even minor offenses were career killers and almost always the more serious offenders earned BCDs and did time at Leavenworth or some other detention facility.
It’s too bad you led an oppressed life as an enlisted member all of those 20 years. I experienced all of that crap as well from BOTH SIDES. I served with mostly outstanding enlisted colleagues as well as mostly outstanding officers and many officers who had been enlisted.
Attitudes like yours are as disruptive to unit cohesiveness and well-being as bad officers and senior NCOs are. You can take your personal issues and SAVE IT!
Hope your retired working relationships have been a better experience but based on the last 19 years of my retirement I doubt that you found the working relationships between the lower and upper working ranks to be much different from the military.