I suppose this would be a reasonable interlude to ask this, and I promise I'm not taking the piss.
What exactly is the purpose of having a differentiation between officers and other ranks? I've read the official explanation about management responsibility and so forth, but it seems rather arbitrary and class-conscious in a society where that distinction hasn't existed in civilian life for decades, at least at any level more than you get in any professional organisation.
A lot of what's in that story seems a little ungenerous of the writer, and even I know only about the RAF to realise there aren't any colonels in it, for instance. But some of it does bring to mind some of the things I've noticed.
Surely all this division is just... well... divisive?
P