Imagine a boy. Let's call him Joe. Joe is big for his age. As he grows up, he gets used to doing what he wants and bossing around other people. Then one day, Joe joins the Army and finds out things are a bit different. Now he's the one getting bossed around and there's not much he can do about it unless he gets promoted.
One particular day sticks out in Joe's mind. As he's trying to boss around the soldiers around him, the squad leader decides to teach Joe a lesson. He tells Joe to move sandbags back and forth. There are few better ways to humiliate someone than to force them to do something stupid. So Joe does as he's ordered, and all the while he mutters and curses the squad leader. "How dare he treat me like this", thinks Joe, "doesn't he know how important I am?"
Joe completes his punishment but learns the exact wrong lesson from it. What Joe learned that day is that the only rule in the Army is: kiss up and kick down. You can mistreat subordinates all you want so long as you obey the orders you are given. This is of course insane, but Joe was never the sharpest tool in the shed.
Joe gets promoted, but never quite gets the same amount of authority as his peers. This is because his reputation for petty cruelty is known far and wide, and that if he was given more subordinates, Joe would surely abuse his authority.
As his career stagnates, Joe because increasingly surly and resentful, which makes life that much worse for his handful of subordinates. He soothes himself by writing long-winded nastygrams and constantly finding fault with those he is in charge of.
At some point, Joe will do something so outrageous that he is no longer allowed to be in charge of anyone. After that, he will be given busywork to keep him out of trouble. If by some miracle, he stays in long enough to retire, he will not be missed when he leaves. It's a good thing Joe was not in the Vietnam War because NCOs like him are the reason why fragging was invented.
Soldiers: Don't be like Joe.
If you still don't know what "martinet" means yet, the video below will explain it.
BC Army Sgt. hit with mallet in hazing - YouTube
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