I will repost something I posted on arrse recently after people started whining about civil servants.
"As a MOD CS, (and Stab Fish Head) currently working in the Sand Pit, I'd like to say that not all CS's are total cnuts.
I'd suggest the grading system reflects the old days, when promotion was very slow and people hitting C2 / C1 usually did so after the same length of time as their military equivalents and had a good range of experience. For better or for worse that sytem has changed and the opportunities for faster promotion exist for those who take it.
That said there are plenty of idiots out there who think they're some kind of "Captain" or "Colonel" and I take great pleasure in telling them their place. I'd point out though that on a recent Army run course I was called "Captain Jim", to which I replied, I'm "Mr Jim" - cue significant sarcasm for the rest of the course from the DS WO2 who clearly found my wanting to be called "Mr" hard to deal with. My own line is simple, if you want to call me a rank then call me my military rank (and then only when I'm in uniform) that I have EARNED through bl**dy hard work (and no this isn't the place for a debate about full or part time ranks either). Otherwise I'm just a plain "Mr". Its also fair to note that the Army is not exactly a bastion of meritocracy though, I've met some highly stuffy idiots of all ranks who think that because they have a commission they are some form of deity.
I'd also point out that times have changed and many civil servants are now voluntarily deployed on ops. Personally having spent a significant period of time in MND(SE) at my request, working significantly longer hours than many of the forces personnel here (not trying to get a rise, just stating a fact), and having been mortared on a regular basis along with everyone else, then I'd suggest that snide comments about MOD being jobsworth are not totally appropriate. We are out here too, and certainly in my case I know that when I get home I'm likely to be mobilised for the other Sandpit in the near future. Just bear that in mind the next time you start slagging off CS's. "