Thank you for reading the article and for sharing your thoughts. I have always viewed the American military as more meritocratic and a military which provides multiple avenues of growth for enlisted men and women. I come from the British tradition of soldiering where the class system (the officer-soldier divide) is way more ossified. It is disheartening to see such a divide develop in the U.S. Agree that 'Mustangs' have historically made very good officers and those avenues should never be shut off.