War reveals character
In chapter three, we get to know Baumer's comrades a little better, and come to understand that the intense bonds of friendship soldiers build among themselves comes from the simple daily acts of looking out for each other. I liked the conversation they had in which they try to understand why Himmelstoss, a postman in civilian life, became such a tyrant when given a little bit of command power as a low-ranking officer. Here's Kat, reflecting on the question:
"Now I ask you: Let a man be whatever you like in peactime, what occupation is there in which he can behave like that without getting a crack on the nose? He can only do that in the army. It goes to the heads of them all, you see. And the more insignificant a man has been in civil life, the worse it takes him."
Couple of points here. The suspension of the normal social and psychological order of civilian life by the requirements of war allows the true character of some men to come forward. Himmelstoss was a nobody in civilian life, but in war, he is given a little bit of power (whether or not he merits it), and he becomes an abuser. And the ordinary rules of justice are suspended because Himmelstoss is an officer. To be fair, we shall soon see that Himmelstoss is not, in fact, permitted to run roughshod over the men under his command without consequence, but still, the requirements of military discipline give men who are by nature petty tyrants an opportunity to exercise their true natures, much to the discouragement of the men they are supposed to lead.
This can be demoralizing when soldiers come to understand that their commanders are actually not looking out for them, but rather only for themselves -- in Himmelstoss's case, acting out his own private psychodrama instead of leading his men effectively. The phenomenon of hated officers being killed by their own men is called "fragging," and it was reportedly done to a startling degree in the Vietnam War. Himmelstoss doesn't get fragged in this chapter, but he gets the hell beat out of him by his men, whom he can't see because of precautions they've taken to disguise their identities.
It's not fragging, of course, but on the point of incompetent or demonstrably unfit officers causing morale problems, we saw recently an example of a distinguished soldier (an officer, actually) down the chain of command in Iraq speaking out against the failure of senior commanders to do right by the troops. Lt. Col. Paul Yingling began his powerful essay in the May issue of Armed Forces Journal with a quote from a famous Prussian:
"You officers amuse yourselves with God knows what buffooneries and never dream in the least of serious service. This is a source of stupidity which would become most dangerous in case of a serious conflict." -- Frederick the Great