Maybe it's a bit like I heard as a kid (perhaps incorrectly), that the term sensei is one of respect, from student towards teacher. Not something one claims for oneself.
Even if I heard incorrectly, I still like the idea.
Even if I heard incorrectly, I still like the idea.
You have a rank, you get to give orders, it's a hierarchy generally.
But the difference between an experienced, senior NCO and a junior officer is well understood, and built into the structures.
Specific examples: why is there an officer's mess? Is it classist? Or is it because familiarity breeds contempt, and when you need to order someone to do something if no one respects you; everyone dies?
On the other side of it, who eats last, the enlisted or the officers? If you get that wrong you get mutiny.
I'd assume it is because the officers might be in a position where they choose to send the men (and women, in this enlightened age) to their deaths. There isn't much point eating together if that sort of politics might come into play, the power differential is too large. And it'd be harder for the officers to do that in an emergency if they see themselves as part of the same group.
Not to cast doubt on the officers, I'm sure they care very deeply about the wellbeing of their people and generally do a pretty good job of keeping people alive. But it is the military. People can die. Historically in war, some people die when their officers decide something suicidal is better than inaction.
Historically, the value of eating with your men is that the men will actually follow your orders rather than just mutinying and killing you.
Not only does familiarity breed contempt, but putting executives in IC tier offices lowered the standard for everyone, and now ICs have been reduced to factory floor scrubs.