Some background first: A few days ago, EchoFourDelta made this post, in which — as he has done many a time now — he gives a wiki member a bit of a chewing-out for writing poorly about military personnel and procedure. I would have liked to respond directly to that post, but after some deliberation (and seeking the counsel of wiser heads), I decided that this was a better venue: I didn't want to call him out that publicly, and besides, that page's discussion thread had been hijacked enough already.
I'll reproduce the post in its entirety here, the better to respond coherently:
This is one of those things where… I don't understand law the same way that SpikeBrennan does, being a lawyer. I don't have an understanding of plant biology in the way that Photosynthesis does. Bright's knowledge of duck hats will forever outstrip my own.
This is something that you're trying to understand and speak on with a perception shaped by war movies and HBO specials, articles read on Yahoo and Wikipedia. An outsider looking in and trying to think about what it might be like.
I can listen to Handel On The Law all day, but it won't give me anything more than an entertaining look at the legal system, and doesn't give me any insight into what Spike experiences in his line of work.
E4D, you are absolutely right. My specialty is plant biology, and I get twitchy as hell when people write about it badly. Yours is military procedure, culture, hardware, etc., and… well, you react to badly written commanders much the way I feel like reacting to the phrase "a standard tree" or an italicized phylum name. I feel your pain. I really do. (A standard tree?! Seriously? Argh!)
The difference is, though, that I try very hard never to act as though the details of binomial nomenclature should be obvious. I do not ridicule people for not recognizing Gnetum gnemon on sight. When people want to know more about taxonomy or plant biology, I teach them; if I don't have time to do so in person, I write a short guide.
If you're sick of our ignorance regarding the military, do something about it. Teach us. I, for one, would read any guide you wrote with enthusiasm and intense curiosity. I know that the life of the military represents a huge gap in my knowledge, and one that I'd do well to rectify if I want to write military-related SCP articles… or just for the purposes of being a well-informed citizen and properly understanding & appreciating what the armed forces do for us.
It's certainly appropriate to object to our mistakes in writing about the military. Goodness knows it's the only way we'll learn. If you're not going to teach us how to avoid them, though — whether it's for lack of time or lack of inclination, both of which I respect completely — please stop acting as though we're stupid for having made them.