Good, competent leaders are present in most every squad. That is what allows squads to do what they do. They just aren't represented by counters. Exceptional leaders with skills beyond that are represented by SMC.
The mentioned "competent" leaders from previous posts likely turned 3-3-6 sailors into 4-4-7s.
I'd tend to agree as the game is based on "design for feel" rather than "design for literacy or historical accuracy".
Besides, the USMC Staff NCOs have been making Naval Officers for decades now - and a few pretty damn good ones, too
. LEave the shavetail ensign or j.g. in the capable hands of a caring Marine NCO/SNCO. We'll bring em home wiser, even if that wisdom came from the shiner they are now sporting....
"...At AOCS, all basic military training was administered by enlisted United States Marine Corps drill instructors, a holdover from World War II when AOCS and NavCad graduates were given an option of a commission as either an ensign in the Navy or a 2nd lieutenant in the Marine Corps. This facet of the training was considered a point of pride by the graduates of AOCS and a mark of distinction they felt separated themselves from the graduates of the original OCS in Newport, as well as NROTC and the Naval Academy. Tradition dictated that when AOCS graduates were commissioned, the first salute they received was from their former Marine Corps drill instructor (returned with a silver dollar handshake).
When AOCS and OCS merged, the unified OCS program retained the Marine Corps tradition alongside Navy Recruit Division Commanders (RDC). This continuing Marine presence is the origin of the slogan "Navy owned, Marine Corps trained" and the distinctive blue "Bulldog" company guidons..."
Jerry O. Tuttle 1956 NAVCAD "Gray Eagle"
Everett Alvarez Jr. 1960 AOCS Second longest-held prisoner of war in U.S. history
Jeremy Michael Boorda 1962 OCS Chief of Naval Operations, 1994 to 1996
Bob Kerrey 1966 OCS Medal of Honor awardee, 35th Governor of Nebraska, United States Senator, 1989 to 2001
John Kerry 1966 OCS United States Senator, 1985 to 2013; United States secretary of state, 2013 to 2017
Vern Clark 1968 OCS Chief of naval operations, 2000 to 2005
William P. Driscoll 1969 AOCS Ace
Gregory G. Johnson 1969 AOCS "Gray Eagle"
Dale Gardner 1970 AOCS Astronaut
Joseph E. Kernan 1974 AOCS 48th governor of Indiana
Gregory C. Johnson 1977 AOCS Astronaut
William E. Gortney 1977 AOCS "Gray Eagle"
Robin Braun 1980 AOCS First woman to lead any reserve component of the U.S. military
Barry E. Wilmore 1986 AOCS Astronaut
Erik Prince 1992 OCS Founder of defense contracting firm Blackwater
Michael P. Murphy 2000 OCS Posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor