[AndyJackson]

Navy officers have far more “helf” than their Army counterparts. Commanders - 0-5, the equivlent of an Army Lt Colonel - exercise in their capacity as ship captains far more independence than battalions commanders exercise.

As a retired navy O6 I have a lot of respect for my Army colleagues who have had to deal with all sorts of housing, personnel, doctrinal and personnel issues that we submariners never had to deal with. A typical Naval officer has his ship handed to him in more or less working order, a set of weapons and instruction manuals, etc., and not nearly the kinds of problems that an army officer has to deal with.

I know of no naval officer who has ever even had to figure out where and how to dig a latrine or deal run a motor pool or any of the other bread and butter things required to keep an army in the field.

[quadrant]

Agreed that digging a latrine is unpleasant task, but a battalion commander who gets involved in such task is a poor commander. A wise officer delegates that responsibility to Sgt Majors who delegate it to First Sgts who delegate it to platoon sgts who see that the latrines get dug. Even operating a motor pool pales in comparison to the responsibility of operating a billion dollar piece of equipment (loaded with nuclear weapons) that operates in an environment as hostile as outer space.
No one says Army officers are not entitled to great respect, but as Omar Bradley wrote, “After D-Day, the Plan took over.” No one studying the War in the Pacific can say that, “After Midway, the Plan took over.”