Today the weather cooled down to the mid-90's because it was slightly overcast. The break from the more spring like 110's we've been having gave me the mental break required to make a keen insight on human nature. No, not that anything that is both deep fried and made of cheese is next to divine. As wonderful as mozzarella sticks and jalepeno cheddar sticks are, they are not quite sanctifiable. My observation is that O-3 is the last good rank in the military. All of the majors walking around are clearly distraught, probably at the thought of what they must do to make LT Colonel. And the LT Colonels are lost in their own self importance. But the captains...
Most captains toe the line as expected and are good soldiers. Most are appropriately difficult for everyone to live with. I have found out, however, that it is not the captains that are bad, but the influence of those above them. How do I know this? Today I observed two captains completely free of the corrupting influence of authority. You see, we have several military transition teams on base, which consist of a captain and a couple of non-commissioned officers that go out and train the Iraqis. So the captains are king. It is hard to tell who these free-radical captians are, since we all dress the same, except in one particular case: Marines. Marines dress differently from everyone else on base so you can identify them from a mile.
Stereotypically, Marines of all rank are stretched tight. I thought it was inherent in their Marineliness. All spit and polish and short hair. Jackbooted thugs a reporter once called them quite incorrectly, but their reputation for near Prussian discipline is renowned. I saw a corpsman, the Navy's emissary of medical mercy to the Marines, the other day, and he had some pretty long hair. Flowing locks is a fair description. Looked like there might have been a touch of peroxide in there, too. "No biggie, he's just being typically Navy and flaunting our less stringent hair standards while being stuck with the uptight Marines," I thought. (The Navy, of all services, has the reputation of being least military, lovably pudgy, and hair a bit on the shaggy side. It is a mark of our free thinking and high IQ.) But tonight I saw the two Marine captains he obviously worked for eating in the DFAC. And, yes, their hair was well within regs. Navy regs. For women. (Okay, not quite that bad. They were still in regs, I'm sure, but their hair was quite a bit longer than mine.) I have never seen Marines (non-aviators) look so relaxed, like the members of Department of the Navy they really are. One of them even had a mustache that looked like the tail from some woodland marsupial.
Then it hit me. These are O-3's, just like me, not Marines. The reason they would be chest-thumping manly-men in their normal environment is because there are majors and Lt Colonels around. It is the oak leaf that makes man evil, not grunting huahs an ooh-rah's. Left to their own devices, these cammie wearing captains long for freedom and rebel ever so slightly against "The Man" just like every junior officer in the Navy. They are just afraid to show it on their own, but it is true. Welcome to the dark side, fellow O-3's. Have the courage of long hair that your Navy brethren have had for ages.
Now not everyone past the rank of O-4 is beyond redemption. In fact, if you are reading this blog as anything higher than an O-4, I'm positive that you are not easily offended by keen or cutting insights on human nature as are the evil O-5's. And if you work in the Math Dept at USNA or will ever be my boss, that is another sign of not having fallen prey to the typical perils of the O-4/5 community. But there is something about O-3 that is the last rank where, when left alone, you can be free from the perils group-think and the dangers of conformity. Even as a Marine.
BTW, I have received books from several people. They all look fascinating, and I really appreciate the thought and good choices made by all.
