"What college did you go to"

Lt Ring asked Gunny this when talking about his college ROTC experience.

Certainly the idiot would know that the 60 year old man standing in front of him holding a rank below did not go to college. Duh.

For those who do not know you can enter a military branch as a fully commissioned officer in training with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant if you have a college degree. That was the purpose of the Lt Ring character. To differentiate and contrast an officer with book training vs a man with real combat experience.

Despite Gunny's vast experience and string of combat medals he has to take orders from a kid with no experience. Interesting though the actor who plays Ring was over 30 when they did the film. He looks just out of college.