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Originally Posted by lookout123
tw, do you actually believe that officers are more intelligent than the enlisted?
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You want to make proof by specific examples. Overall, enlisted men don't have the curiosity to be officers. That does not say all enlisted men are dumb or do not have officer education. Indeed, even Bill Gates, Michael Dell, and Peter Jennings would only be enlisted men. But yes, the typical enlisted man has the education of a technician. He knows very well how to work with what he has. Typically has no interest in knowing the bigger picture - the strategic objective. Officers are supposed to understand that bigger picture.
In Vietnam, the officer named Westmoreland did not have sufficient intelligence or curiosity to be commanding general material. Would the enlisted man even know? Things that every officer was supposed to know were not even provided to enlisted man. The enlisted man only knew the symptoms -
"And it's one, two, three, what are we fighting for?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn, next stop is Vietnam
And it's five, six, seven, open up the Pearly Gates.
Well, there ain't no time to wonder why,
Whoopie we're all gonna die. "
They knew the top generals were wrong; were lying. The music said so. Any yet if we told enlisted men why, well, eyes would only glaze over. You tell me. How many enlisted men read Sze Tzu's 'Art of War' - and why not? Required reading for anyone in the military - with sufficient knowledge of the job. Anyone trained even in those basic concepts knew we were in trouble when the 3rd ID had no orders for the peace. Officers may have understood. We know quite accurately that the commanding officer for the 101st Airborne in Mosul understood the problem quite accurately - and all but said we have a leadership problem. As an officer, he saw what enlisted men would not even ask. For the most part, enlisted men did not have sufficient education and knowledge to appreciate how bad things would become in Iraq.
Yes there can be enlisted men with officer's education. Exceptions exist. But how many enlisted men were asking why the dimensions of those aluminum tubes were exact dimensions for a Medusa rocket. Such curiosity is lost on most enlisted men. An enlisted man need only be dumb and well directed. Any additional intelligence is a benefit - but not required - when they will not be doing officer work - such as understanding the big picture - the strategic objective.