I believe that the example of Hayate rank should not be used in "shown their work". Hayate promotions are kind of wonky. He begins as a Gunsou (Equivalent to a Chief Petty Officer/Sergeant First Class) during his training. Once he finishes his training and actually starts piloting Unit 5 of the Delta Squad he gets promoted to Jun-I (Warrant Officer), and later on, after they escape Ragna he gets promoted to Sho-I (Second Lieutenant). Even assuming the last promotion happened as a sort of battlefield promotion to commisioned officer since they are in the middle of the war and Messer dies, leaving them short one man, to go from civilian to commissioned officer (even if lowest rank possible) with only his combat skills and no leadership qualities or training in such a short ammount of time (the entire Delta storyline takes less than a year, with Hayates promotion to Sho-I happening around 2-3 months after the beginning of the series) is frankly absurd.
EDIT: Although, on second thought, Xaos is a PMC. They can do whatever they want with ranks, and don't really have to follow "standart rules" for military promotions. Even with the rank of Sho-I hayate has 0 authority outside of Xaos, and it's debatable if his authority even extends outside Delta Squad. Ignore this chaotic rambling.
I believe that the example of Hayate rank should not be used in "shown their work". Hayate promotions are kind of wonky. He begins as a Gunsou (Equivalent to a Chief Petty Officer/Sergeant First Class) during his training. Once he finishes his training and actually starts piloting Unit 5 of the Delta Squad he gets promoted to Jun-I (Warrant Officer), and later on, after they escape Ragna he gets promoted to Sho-I (Second Lieutenant). Even assuming the last promotion happened as a sort of battlefield promotion to commisioned officer since they are in the middle of the war and Messer dies, leaving them short one man, to go from civilian to commissioned officer (even if lowest rank possible) with only his combat skills and no leadership qualities or training in such a short ammount of time (the entire Delta storyline takes less than a year, with Hayates promotion to Sho-I happening around 2-3 months after the beginning of the series) is frankly absurd.
EDIT: Although, on second thought, Xaos is a PMC. They can do whatever they want with ranks, and don't really have to follow "standart rules" for military promotions. Even with the rank of Sho-I hayate has 0 authority outside of Xaos, and it's debatable if his authority even extends outside Delta Squad. Ignore this chaotic rambling.
Edited by AzraelIshi