In the grand scheme of things, there are different kinds of power.
There is positional power because of rank. Anyone who has been in the military is familiar with it.
There is physical power. If you have been in junior high school, you have seen this in action. At least I did.
Both are pretty effective.
There is also behind-the-scenes power. It is probably more effective than the two just mentioned. They say history is written by the victors. I say it is written by secretaries. He (or she) who writes the final draft has the final say on what will be recorded in the archives.
The military industrial complex is not run on fossil fuel; it is run on paper. Any Commanding Officer will tell you that an administrative staff that can write well – thus reducing the time the boss has to spend on chops and corrections – is worth its weight in gold. The C.O. can dedicate his/her time to more pressing matters, confident that the admin team has things well in hand.
But it doesn’t come without its own risks.
But if you ask me, those categories all pale in comparison to where the real power is yielded. As Confucius or some other smart guy once said, “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.”
