"Respect the rank, not the person." All that means is that you can follow the orders and give professional respect to a person you hate. I don't know why this is so hard to understand and do, which is why I sometimes think the US should have mandatory military training. Or at least raise your kids with this understanding.

And I really don't want to go down the philosophical rabbit-holes about What-if!?!?!??! Those moments are so far and few between, and you're asking me about what happens in the military. UCMJ. That's the answer. Yes, I know of the times and moments when bad soldiers do evil. What happens is that they either don't have the rank anymore, or they're not a Soldier anymore. There was a major who raped a subordinate and at the time of the action was entering retirement. The Army re-enlisted him back into the Army just for the sake of being able to knock him back down to Private so he retired with zilch. The Army knows how to handle its bad people. You just gotta make sure the right people know. (And since for some reason .win doesn't have an option to disable inbox replies, I'm not replying to any "BUT THERE WAS THIS TIME THE ARMY LET THIS GUY GET AWAY WITH RAPING BABIES!?!?!?!" I'm not talking about exceptions. I'm replying to a "How-to." I don't see why it's so hard for the internet to stay on topic.)

"Respect the rank, not the person." Even if you have a jerk as your leader, deal with it. Grow up. Follow orders. Shut up. And yes, I was in that situation. I just followed orders and stayed out of the girly gossip. The guy I'm thinking of, eventually, his time came to be the Platoon Sergeant and he was passed over for the position even though he was next-in-line for the job. Because he was a jerk, and everyone knew it. So, he went to another company to be someone else's problem.