Very amusing indeed. Was that the same NCO who got lost in the forest? I had little experience with personel of higher ranks, but I would like to relate how our armed forces create NCOs. Most people reading this probably know that in many countries the armed forces have professional, long-serving senior NCOs (In the UK the are apparently referred to as "ratings" and are widely regarded as "the backbone of the army") responsible for training new recruits and running the units on a daily basis. The fact that they serve for quite some time at least gives them the benefit of long experience, regardless of how good or bad their ability may be.
Our forces used to have such personel, but they were abolished in 1932 for reasons unknown to me. Nowadays the ranks go like this: private, corporal, sergeant, second lieutenant, lieutenant, captain, major, lt. colonel, colonel, brigadier, major-general, lieutenant-general and general. There are two ways to become a sergeant (excluding academic NCOs): either you enter NCO school, which last for one year (most of them do this after they finish their basic one-year service, but this is not mandatory; one can enroll directly), or you can enter a "UB" (conscripted NCO) course after finishing the basic training during the "first-time service". This course last for about 3/4ths of the first time service, after which those "UB-korporaler" who have shown themselves to be incompetent at the simple tasks they have been set to, are offered to continue their service as full sergeants.
Now, the important thing to consider here is that in order to enter the aforementioned NCO school, you need to have the kind of upper secondary school exams which qualify one for university studies, thereby excluding a lot of uneducated louts. Additionally, there are always far more applicants to these schools than there are "seats", therefore, and this is confirmed by my own experience, these NCOs are usually much more intelligent and competent than their "UB" counterparts, who are mostly those with the physique, but not the wits to enter NCO school.
I any case, these two types of sergeants, with at most two years of service behind them and often only one, are responsible for training and leading the conscripts. If you take into consideration that a lot of these people have a lot of growing up to do, and that the conscripts usually are not enthusiastic about their lot, then it should come as no surprise that morale is rather low. After a year of service sergeants are eligible for promotion to second lieutenant, and after that they either quit the forces altogether, assume an clerical position or go on to military academy. In any case training of conscripts are always left to the most inexperienced and immature of officers.
I would also like to tell you more about the state of our equipment: I was issued a G-3 rifle several years older than me. This particular weapon was rather worn down, which led to the thing jamming because the spent cartridges did not eject properly from the chamber. Another time, the rifle was rendered unusable because the bolt holding the "recoil spring" in place came of the rod it was mounted on. This happened on the firing range, but you can probably imagine the consequences if this had happened in battle. It would be rather humiliating to get killed or captured just because your weapon ceases to function through no fault of your own.
I could also mention the curious practice of putting lower physical demands on those of the personnel who are lacking the Y cromosome, even though they are set to the same tasks as their XY-cromosomed counterparts. The decisionmakers seem to assume that euipment weighs less and marching distances somehow become shorter based on ones biological characteristics. Another curious practice is to issue different types of personal weapons (rifles, submachine guns or pistols) based upon rank, and not upon the intended task of the person in question. If you are a lieutenant, you are issued an MP-5, even though you spend most of the time in the field, where a rifle would be more suitable. If you are a "petty squire" in a command post in a bunker like me, you are issued a G-3, even though an MP-5 would be more suitable (and easier to carry) in this particular setting.
