<p>I have been doing everything I could to stay out of this thread but the following bears comment:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>First off, do the actions of ‘joes’ only apply to classmates. If so, that was completely unheard of in my time.</p>
<p>Wheelah’s observation caused me pause. I had never really thought about it before but, in my time, the “flamers” of plebes were certainly most often “dirtbags”. Not sure about her amateur psychology, but she does have a point.</p>
<p>Now for the rest of the story. I don’t know how many times I have met these self same “flaming dirtbags” over the past 15-20 years, only to comment “How did that a$$hole make Cdr/Captain?” It seems that an inordinate number of them did rather well in their military careers. Maybe Wheelah’s psychological observations are correct. Their insecurities caused them to fear the private sector so they stayed in and the Peter Principal did it’s job. Interesting thoughts non the less.</p>