It was an odd feeling being in an organization that basically told you, the day you walked into boot camp, that your rights were stripped away from you under the UCMJ. In most cases they really weren't but an any time, if you got on the wrong side of some dictatorial idiot higher in rate or rank than you were, they had the power to make your life miserable for no really good or just reason. All they had to have as motivation was a simple dislike for the way you looked, acted or the beliefs you held.

I met some wonderful people that outranked me but there was this disproportionate number of true social rejects. I suspect that they became lifers simply because, when their original enlistements ended, they realized they'd actually have to function in the real world. Unfortunately, even though the military promotion system contained elements of both longevity and skill, often times the longevity would simply edge out the rest of the criteria and these dolts would end up with more power than they'd ever achieve in the outside world.