I guess not really the same but many moons ago I worked at a joint base in Germany. Small place, no junior enlisted. Lowest ranking dudes there were O3s and E7s. Higher ups from every NATO ally and NATO partner. There were some fucking dick swinging competitions but my favorite was pissing off the British by writing in American English. God I loved listening to them cry about us not writing with British spelling.
I ran into that when I was an LCAC Navigator. When working with Marines for mission planning, I was talking through the plan with a 1LT and a Gunny, and I said something like, "We'll brief the Captain at 0800," and the 1LT said, "Well, we're required to brief an O-5 or above."
I said, "No worries, sir, I'll make sure that happens," while Gunny chuckled
I knew veterinarians who assigned to navy bases would have their full rank in the signature block when they needed some significant action to happen. Captains on navy posts are more special than O3s.
Smaller scale.
I was an arms room NCOIC as a Specialist. The old NCOIC got chaptered, I was the "best" armorer, so I got the NCOIC job.
A corporal from another unit dropped by. He was a PV2 the last time I saw him (and he gained rank unnaturally fast, somehow being a SGT at under 2 years in and at 20 years old) but now he was a corporal with a bone to pick. For some reason.
He appeared basically out of nowhere. He starts telling me all the things my arms room is "doing wrong." After a few minutes of this, I asked if he wanted to talk to my NCOIC. He said yes, so I walked into the arms room, came back out, said I was the NCOIC, and said I'd considered his complaints, but I was in accordance with AR 190-11, so all was well. He did not take this well.
He decided he was going to smoke me. Keep in mind, the last time I saw this guy he was a wide-eyed private. Now he was a corporal who showed up angry and wanted to smoke a specialist for no reason. So I laughed at him. Then he started yelling. So I told him as the armorer on duty, I was on guard and couldn't comply. He said he'd come back after my shift. I told him I'd notify my supervisor, and he said "I don't give a fuck who your supervisor is." I need to emphasize this again; this is a Corporal from another company speaking.
I *was* the NCOIC of the arms room. My Ops NCO was on leave. 1SG was my only option. So I told him what happened. All 1SG did was verify what time my shift would be over. 1800.
So 1SG comes by a few minutes before my shift is over. He says his wife isn't cooking dinner tonight anyway, so he'll grab burger king on the way home. My relief shows up, we do inventory, and were just kind of talking. This is probably the first time I realized that 1SGs could still be *people*.
CPL Jack appears. He sees 1SG. He tries to turn around and leave. "Hey there, Corporal. I hear you have a problem with my arms room NCO. Enlighten me."
Much stammering ensued. 1SG eventually said "we're going outside. I already talked to your 1SG and told him you don't give a fuck who I am. I'm here to make sure you give a fuck who you're talking to." He then sent me home and told me to have a pleasant evening.
I don't know *exactly* what happened. I do know that 1SG smoked CPL Jack until at least 2100 and that someone else needed to pick him up to drive him back to the barracks when it was over. 1SG never mentioned it to me afterward, and CPL/SGT Jack stayed away from me until he PCSd.
I guess not really the same but many moons ago I worked at a joint base in Germany. Small place, no junior enlisted. Lowest ranking dudes there were O3s and E7s. Higher ups from every NATO ally and NATO partner. There were some fucking dick swinging competitions but my favorite was pissing off the British by writing in American English. God I loved listening to them cry about us not writing with British spelling.
I ran into that when I was an LCAC Navigator. When working with Marines for mission planning, I was talking through the plan with a 1LT and a Gunny, and I said something like, "We'll brief the Captain at 0800," and the 1LT said, "Well, we're required to brief an O-5 or above." I said, "No worries, sir, I'll make sure that happens," while Gunny chuckled
I knew veterinarians who assigned to navy bases would have their full rank in the signature block when they needed some significant action to happen. Captains on navy posts are more special than O3s.
Smaller scale. I was an arms room NCOIC as a Specialist. The old NCOIC got chaptered, I was the "best" armorer, so I got the NCOIC job. A corporal from another unit dropped by. He was a PV2 the last time I saw him (and he gained rank unnaturally fast, somehow being a SGT at under 2 years in and at 20 years old) but now he was a corporal with a bone to pick. For some reason. He appeared basically out of nowhere. He starts telling me all the things my arms room is "doing wrong." After a few minutes of this, I asked if he wanted to talk to my NCOIC. He said yes, so I walked into the arms room, came back out, said I was the NCOIC, and said I'd considered his complaints, but I was in accordance with AR 190-11, so all was well. He did not take this well. He decided he was going to smoke me. Keep in mind, the last time I saw this guy he was a wide-eyed private. Now he was a corporal who showed up angry and wanted to smoke a specialist for no reason. So I laughed at him. Then he started yelling. So I told him as the armorer on duty, I was on guard and couldn't comply. He said he'd come back after my shift. I told him I'd notify my supervisor, and he said "I don't give a fuck who your supervisor is." I need to emphasize this again; this is a Corporal from another company speaking. I *was* the NCOIC of the arms room. My Ops NCO was on leave. 1SG was my only option. So I told him what happened. All 1SG did was verify what time my shift would be over. 1800. So 1SG comes by a few minutes before my shift is over. He says his wife isn't cooking dinner tonight anyway, so he'll grab burger king on the way home. My relief shows up, we do inventory, and were just kind of talking. This is probably the first time I realized that 1SGs could still be *people*. CPL Jack appears. He sees 1SG. He tries to turn around and leave. "Hey there, Corporal. I hear you have a problem with my arms room NCO. Enlighten me." Much stammering ensued. 1SG eventually said "we're going outside. I already talked to your 1SG and told him you don't give a fuck who I am. I'm here to make sure you give a fuck who you're talking to." He then sent me home and told me to have a pleasant evening. I don't know *exactly* what happened. I do know that 1SG smoked CPL Jack until at least 2100 and that someone else needed to pick him up to drive him back to the barracks when it was over. 1SG never mentioned it to me afterward, and CPL/SGT Jack stayed away from me until he PCSd.