Military class system, outdated?

Most militaries (all perhaps) across the world use the enlisted man - officer system. This harks back to the class systems of old.

 

Is there any justification for it in the modern world. Couldn't there just be a flat ranknig system like the police.?

 

Rather according to education. Officers are graduates of military academies. However some officers got only very basic military training - like for example lawyers and doctors - they are needed by every army but not to fight. A friend of mine is a high rank navy officer but he works as judge in the military court and all he got was 3 months long basic training.

Certainly in the British Army, and as others have said, not everyone enters as a private soldier. There are still two ways to join the army: as a private, or as an officer.

I did the former and left as a corporal.

It should be noted that (in the British army) officers do not need to have been at university - most will have been, but it is not a requirement. HRH Prince Harry is a good example. Similarly, you will find private soldiers / NCOs with remarkably good educations, especially in Signals / Intelligence etc. I had a university degree when I joined - though this did lead to my training Corporals taking the piss out of me rather a lot during basic training.

A lot of our officers were very young but nominally senior to NCOs who were much older and much more experienced. The reason I say 'nominally senior' is that, in reality, there was a very strange dynamic between the senior NCOs and the junior officers - basically, the NCOs ran the platoon and guided the officer. "I don't think that's a very good idea, Sir" was a commonly heard comment.

By the time the officer is a Captain or Major, things have changed as he has the experience and a few more years of growing-up under his belt. This, combined with his better education, places him in a good position.

So its certainly a wierd and arachiac system compared to the (British) police where every police officer has to serve 2 years as a uniformed constable, but in the British army, it seems to work. The stereotype of Officers all being from public schools and squaddies all hailing from the slums is no longer true, if it ever was - the boundaries have broken down and one will often find a Sgt Major or RSM who is later given a commission.

Of course, the sky has always been the limit for a good private soldier:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Robertson

 

officers in war have to justify what commands they give

this has made in most cases a better class of officer

and olso taken a lot of the class system away