Why is there such a pronounced difference in how the military treats officers vs enlisted people? This even extends to how they are treated when a POW, as seen in Bridge Over River Kwai.

Question

I *completely* understand that there needs to be a hierarchy, but there seems to be a big discontinuity between these different classifications. When I was in the Navy, I noticed this extended to eating accommodations, and even how ships were built (different hallways for enlisted and officers to walk down). This may have made sense “back in the day”, but why does this separation continue to exist today?

In: 222

Answer 1

It’s called ego. From what I saw when I was in the army, it amazes me that we can fight a war with any effectiveness. All of the lifers were ass kissers as that’s what it took to get promoted. Most were incompetent at their job. Most of the good people got out after their first enlistment simply because they couldn’t put up with the stupidity any longer.