Hierachy privelege is not soley the domain of the Armed forces, as has been mentioned earlier.
A company once based its company car allocation, according to seniority, on the Ford Cortina, of which there were 18 models. A junior salesman was given a basic two door saloon whilst the MD drove a Ghia. When a new salesmen questioned why he had only a two door model, the MD told him it was because Ford didn't make a one door model!