You're right you do have to have a degree to be a infantry officer. I will not argue with that and would advocate for it. You are also right that when you sign your ass over to Uncle Sam he doesn't have much to judge you on... Which is exactly why they break you down and train you to do exactly what they want how they want (concerning an enlisted man who does not have the degree).

The situation is different when considering officer's though because there is the element of leadership that comes with the vocation. In order to lead effectively IMHO one has to be instructed in and have developed leadership skills. Now before I go on let me just say that Officer's have to have these skills upon entry unlike an airline captain who would have learned and developed this during his/her time as a first officer and course of their career.

So when you consider an officer you have to look at their schooling. A lot of people who become one go to school at West Point, Annapolis, the AirForce Academy etc. The ones that don't do that become involved in some ROTC program and still the ones that don't do that go through OCS. All of which are designed to instruct/train men and women how to lead as well as give military specific instruction.

I will say this though...that brand new infantry officer draws a lot from the more experienced enlisted SGT. when it comes to completing the mission which builds his own experience.....Anyway it wasn't my intent to hijack the thread. I apologize if I offended anyone. I'm not even sure this last paragraph is entirely relevant.