Rankism. Is there such a thing in the military?

I think there are rank stereotypes that most members of the military are expecting to face. Hell, I've been guilty of expecting a new Private to not know his ass from his elbow, or the incoming Sergeant Major to be a prick, and been proven wrong. It took me a bit, but I finally got over that kind prejudice, and waited to see what the new (insert rank) was like.

And that's when you know it's time to hang it up..wow.

I think the reason we have certain ranks/grades grouped is due to past history. However i do remember when i was young Soldier thinking that i would be able to change things wheni got up the rank ladder. However i found out very fast that the more rank means more responsibility and more work. When you get to certain possition you do deserve certain perks, but to get to that position one must pay ones dues. In other words you work hard in order to succeed in anything that you do in life. The US military is no different.

Whenever someone brings up rankism, the word "snowflake" runs through my head.

There's certainly rank based favortism in IET. And many people think of anyone below them as a fool and anyone above them as a jerk. But the real sourse of rankism is that typically if there is a he-said-he-said situation the person with the higher rank will be believed. Although one must also account for social rank, as in where one stands among peers. Which basically means that popularity allows for special privileges, and notoriety equals non-judicial persecution.

In short, everyone must be a bully to survive in a army of bullies.

This is a set up question, when people have earned the experience then the respect shows..while at TECH school at Chanute, my friend was a E-3 because of college, i was an E2 because prior Army Guard....one day he was given command of the sqn to march back to our barrack, up until then he had only marched about 20 people, this day was more like 160 plus....since he outraked me, he asked me if i could do it..."if i felt good about it ,because he sure didnt", i said yes took command and marched the Sqn back, we also ran into the base CO, i ordered eyes left saluted all while making a left turn then a right turn during the process...it was because of experience and self confidence the ARMY gave me...by the way the General called the SQN with high praise on the way we sounded and looked, the CADRE were impressed, thats how you earn the respect of the higher ups...STOP CRYING ABOUT STUPID STUFF AND DEFEND OUR COUNTRY!

In the Navy Chiefs often get separated in the enlisted level, but all I can say is RHIP. If you are enlisted you get the easy going, the people who have served longer, done the job for more than a year or two do know more than your dumbass. If you are hot shit, you will get there, until then shut up and listen.

Back in the Post Vietnam era of the Army, especially in the 1980s, Rankism was prevalent back in the day. I for one being a lowly E-3/E-4 in Berlin, really didn't mind so much as long as I was doing my job and having a good, professional attitude. As long as I knew I was trying not to be a jackass and an arrogant SOB just because I wore Class A's and BDU's. However, I was PCS's to Fort Polk, Louisiana and then to Panama or Operation Just Cause, which was fine. It was a 96 hour combat operation and we were back at the S-3 Shop at Battalion HQ at Fort Polk in no time. I ran into an SSG just fresh off of recruiter status jack me up side the wall in the office from which I worked and verbally and sexually assault me. I broke his jaw in two places and then I found my self in four point restraints at Baynes-Jones ACH. 6 months later, I was medically discharged from the service and the SSG was sent to work at Brigade PAC Center. It was the end of my career; I had a really bad case of PTSD for sometime to the pointg that I could not hold a job for any length of time. It is a pity because I felt that I had been doing a good job in the service and I had never been busted for any violations. There are people in the service who no doubt feel entitled to power and position once they attain a degree of leadership responsibilities and then the forget who they are and take it out on folks with a lesser rank then they have. By and large, though, I have worked with some of the finest people to ever wear the uniform and have been treated extremely well. Sometimes there are just borrn assholes in every crowd.

A large part of this is just the way the Army works. PFCs do PFC work and get treated like PFCs. The same for 2LTs, SFCs, CSMs, and BGs. Problems usually arise when people think they know better than those above them and try to work outside the system. It's the same when leaders think they can do better work than those under them, and stop doing their job (supervising, managing, planning) to take over from trained and capable workers.

If you're the oldest most experienced PFC/2LT, don't buck the system. Be a leader among your peers, be your leaders' "trusted agent" that can make things happen. Don't ask for exceptions to the rules that apply to your rank because you're older or more educated.

Lastly, a learning point. The SMA didn't change the tattoo policy. He can recommend changes to policies and regulations but the signatures the make those changes are Chief of Staff and Sec. Army. It may seem like semantics, but it's the perfect example of what I'm talking about above; the senior leaders stay in their lane and fill their roles. We should do the same.

Nat'l Guard Bde HQs - often referred to myself as a Pvt/E6 or the designated scapegoat 'cause officers don't make mistakes, got chewed out by a Maj for his mistake, my response was straight timeline: these were my instructions, this is what I did, the Maj said "don't let it happen again!", the S-2 Maj said "my god SSG Jensen, I wish I could do that like you did", Officer privilege all over the place, drug testing for everybody and all of the officers said "we're too busy", and none of them did it. MOPP trng in the HQs and the staff says "go away we're too busy for that. and on, and on, and on