`:::::``The issue of whether this is an encyclopedic topic has been much discussed`` - Agreed. :::::``The decision was, eventually, that it is.`` - Also agreed. :::::``If you wish to reopen that debate with new arguments ... `` - I don't wish to reopen that debate at all. Period. (Either with or without new arguments.) :::::``it's about a rank`` - No, I disagree. :::::``or rather about a class of roughly equivalent ranks in different services.`` - Yes, I agree. So what's your point?     `