muskrat, I like your reference to puffed up little Hitlers.
As we all know, Der Feurer was only a Corporal, several years before he manufactured his rise to leader of Nazi Germany.
As any military history book will tell you, the educated officer class of Germany didn‘t think much of Hitler‘s ability to plan and execute military strategy. He was accused (never to his face, of course), of thinking like a corporal when the situation called for thinking like a field marshal. Especially late in the war, stories of Hitler calling up invisible divisions and maneuvering them across his planning maps give the impression that he was just not all there.
I certainly hope that during my military career, whether it be long or short, that I never reach a particular rank and think, "That‘s it, I‘ve sorted it, I know everything now!". There is always more to learn, and a corporal just isn‘t qualified to lead an army.