Assignment 7 -- Adam Towne

I spent three summers at military camp. Yeah, there’s a built in reputation structure. It’s called rank. Students who are there longer generally have higher rank than new students. If you don’t, you’ve got a bad rep, and people know not to trust you. Trust is important in a military unit because it allows members to know who’s got their back, and who is useless. Squad leaders need to build trust in their squads and trust each member so that that team can be more effective. If you constantly need to baby-sit your soldiers, you don’t have an efficient team and you can’t adapt quickly (Bos, 135).

Desirable behavior amounted mostly avoiding gigs, things that docked your unit points. Also, it entailed helping others, even when helping others would make you vulnerable (Bos, 135). For example, I received a promotion to operation sergeant when I took time to ensure that the barracks was tidy prior to inspection, even though it meant that I received gigs myself. Trust, at least a military camp, was about putting the whole before yourself. This was the most desired behavior, and what the counselors deemed as reasons for promotions.

Clearly, promotions are the coveted award for good behavior. While carrying more responsibility and prestige, promotions also came with perks. First-class officers were able to carry sabers in parades, and second-class officers would carry sword. Commanders were given special mess privileges, and could order meals off campus twice per week. Officers could order meals off campus once per week. Those without positions were unable to do so. In addition, the higher rank meant better reputation, and newer soldiers trusted the higher ranked officers more. I remember that in my first year, one of the officers felt that I had been ranked too low among my class, and after discussing it with his superiors, he was able to increase my own rank, and thus my own reputation.

This is an interesting dichotomy. It means that those with a higher reputation can increase other’s ranks, which means that packs of friends may rise to the top, even if they are not the best candidates. This could be a problem with trust from other people, and may lower the overall efficiency of the unit. In addition, the officer’s food perks were often skirted by having officers order food for lower members for money. This meant that reputation, and more importantly trust, was abused.