Trailer ...
with rank of a sergeant, which doesn't seem to jive with him being a helo pilot. I don't know about the US Marine Corps, but I know in the US Army most helo pilots are Warrant Officers. I know USMC has WOs as a rank so I was taken aback by the Sergeant stripes. He also has the red piping and white belt worn only by enlisted on their dress blues.
Now, along comes the broadcast of episode 1 ...
Now, the red piping is gone as would be correct for an officer's dress blue jacket, and Sergeant stripes and hash marks are gone. But while it's hard to tell, looks like he's wearing the gold oak leaves of a Major, which again strikes me as odd. I would imagine it would take a fairly lengthy career in the Corps to achieve that rank. And I think the black belt is more correct.
and just to make things interesting, I found this image as part of an online review of the episode ...
. At the height of both wars it was about 10 to 11 years to make Major. So standard career progression would make them about 32 or 33 when they attained that rank. That’s seems appropriate in the timeline. Most rotary aviators are Warrant Officers, but there are Commissioned rotary aviators also. It’s all part of organizational structure. The flying time is reduced or non-existent as you move up the Officer ranks. What’s unheard of is Field Grade Officers running around unshaven in dress uniforms. It annoys me to the point I can’t watch 5-0 or Tiny Mag.
