Why does it seem like everyone hates Military Officers?

Question

Most every service man or woman that I talk to, say that military officers are idiots, and that they hate them. ha... Why is this?

Answer 1

Most of the officers in my squadron, with a few exceptions, were good people. While most of them had engineering degrees, though, they new very well WHAT the system did, but had no idea HOW it did it. That was our job. But the fact of the matter was, again with a few exceptions, they did not know where we were coming from. They were in a different group, they had social standards that they had to adhere to, and military decorum almost forces them to be a little snobbish.

We did have a pretty good number of "Mustangs" (commisioned from the ranks), including one commanding officer, as well as one executive officer, and when I left the Marine Corps,my squadron was lucky enough to have a maintenace officer that had been a hydraulics mechanic on A-4 Skyhawks before he earned his commision.

Mustangs are able to connect much better with the enilsted personnell, because they have been there, done that.

Answer 2

well lets see;;;; uhhh because they are. Its been like that ever since i came in the military 9 years ago. The backbone of the military is the Jr. NCO's and the younger troops. I say this only because we do all the work. Officers dont really do much, they are more like a figure head with the enlisted doing the work. Good officers respect enlisted, because we keep the military afloat. on the Idiot part, well i can say that about enlisted as well. Just because you have a degree, doesnt make you smarter or more qualified to do the job. Some of them think it does, and they are the real idiots. But to your answer, yes they mainly are all idiots..

Answer 3

I am prior service enlisted and in ROTC right now. I can tell you for certain not all officers are disliked. Just the junior officers who come in thinking they know everything. The best officers I ever had used their NCO support channel and did not step on their toes. They genuinely cared about their soldiers and took the time to learn from them. Many officer never learn in their commissioning school that they are not getting paid to teach and bark orders. They are paid to be an example and make wise decisions. Lastly, respect is a two way street. Many officers never display respect for anyone they outrank. I lost a lot of respect for some field grade officers and above when they chewed me out in front of my soldiers (I was an E-5) because my boss (an E-6) did not give me the proper info to complete my mission. A small conversation away from my troops would have solved the whole thing. Many officers never understand that "the first to lose their temper, loses". Emotional reactive officers will kill morale faster than anything.

It's just like anything else. I've had commanders I would take a bullet for and a few that I think I might like to shoot. Same thing with enlisted guys also.

Answer 4

Well that depends, how did they become an officer? Were as I am a PFC. Privet First Class or E-3. I started from a E-1 aand worked my way up. I am in line for E-4 not too long from now. My point being is I worked, and hard to get where I am. Now if an Officer went from E-1 to O-11 then by god they have my respect, but some one who goes to school and went through ROTC per-say, they skip the whole enlisted ranks and start off at O-1. These officers are indeed officers but lack alot of repect with the enlisted. Theys not been through what we have. Saddly some dont know there *** from their left hand. Well it doesnt really matter what I think anyways, Im just a privet......lol but one day....

love the question, hope I helped a little.

Answer 5

as an enlisted soldier (e-7) i have worked with cream of the crop officers that are sharp on time and on target very good officers and then you have the other end of the spectrum you wonder how in Gods name did they manage to get a commission. But in over 20 years of service mostly combat arms i have yet to hate an officer not like a few but never hate(Orders given by stupid officers is different)I have hated some of those

Answer 6

I having been in the military,I have met many commissioned officers who were very fine men. Then on the other hand, I've met many who used their rank to treated enlisted men like all were subhuman and had no intelligence. Respect works both ways and a smart officer understands this. Being commissioned dozen"t mean your a god or better than than enlisted men. They all have their job. A good officer earns his personal respect and takes care of his men. Ever hear of "fragging" ?

Answer 7

Well, there are a couple issues I have experienced that stand out to me.

1) Brand new officers (not the prior enlisted type) have a lot of authority, responsibility and expectations tossed upon them, with absolutely no experience or knowledge to back it up.

2) After the first few ranks, making rank is influenced by recommendations of their superiors.
a)So there is a lot of a$$ kissing.
b)There is also a lot of back stabbing.
c) Also in an effort to stand out, they create projects to do. Now this is not in itself bad. However, it is usually other people that do most of the work, for a non-mission task(i.e. pointless), in addition to their current duties, so the officer can look good.

3) They are expected to, but many (many other people too) cannot balance the roles of leader, manager and mentor. And they do not understand followership. I think many get stuck in manager mode.


Officers are in leadership positions and are supposed to be high caliber, professional, examples, etc.. etc..., so they get scrutinized more. There are also relativley fewer of them so bad ones stand out. But just like any cross section of people, there are good ones and bad ones.

Answer 8

A question well asked. If this question were to be universally true, we Air Force Officers would be THE most Hated among all services.

But then again, I don't know why. Speaking from experience, I don't think I got hated by anyone at all. Ok, sure, some might got pissed off by me, but for damn sure I don't do anything just to ruin somebody else's day or on purpose.

I won't know or speak for other Officers (there are some who are really jerks, and I pity the NCOs who are working for such pricks), but I always try to maintain a good relationship with NCO working with me (NCOs don't work for you, because, without them, Officers are screwed). I try to get involved with them in their work as much as possible.

My Master Chief is 10 years senior than me, and I respect him more than I respect some Officers I see around all the time. I never use rank on people around me, and I always get the NCOs to speak frankly. In a way, they are more like my high schools buddies than my ground crew. Heck, I spent more time eating with them in the mess than with the other Officers.

I think it all comes down to the individual. If the Officer truely understands the values of others around him, he/she would do well to treat them all with genuine respect, irregardless of rank or age, rather than acting all high and mighty.

But then, that's just my way of thinking.

Answer 9

Unlike what many of the other guys have answered, I suspect it has a lot to do with money. My opinion is that there is no one who is overpaid in the service, but because Officers get paid much more than enlisted, this is an extreme point of contention. After 10 years of service, I get paid over $100k, while an enlisted man does not earn half of that. No one ever mentions how much anyone gets paid, but since the pay scales are publically available, everyone knows. Recently, I have seen this overt hatred subside somewhat, especially since a disproportionate number of convoy casualties in Iraq are officers (who lead the convoys). I think is because there is no salary in the world that can compensate for the sacrifice of any soldier, whether enlisted or officer.

Answer 10

Because most of them come in and think they already know it all. I was a senior NCO and had a boot officer trying to tell me how to do a job I had been doing for 15 years. Wouldn't even try to listen to me, so I just did my job anyway. Ended up having to fight him in front of an admin board. I won, but it cost me going any higher than E-7. Thats one reason I said screw it and got out. Good side is that I was able to sabotage his future also. Revenge was a very cold dish that day.