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Jeeves Goes to War
Why is the Pentagon sending soldiers to butler school?
By Tom Anderson
Posted Wednesday, July 2, 2003, at 2:53 PM PT

Somewhere in Iraq, a young soldier is handing his three-starred boss a bottled water on a platter, or pressing the general's uniform, or serving his dinner guests dessert—from the left side, of course.

The military has always provided personal assistants to top brass: There are 300 "enlisted aides" who cater to three- and four-star generals and admirals. But now the Air Force and Navy are sprucing up their service by enrolling some aides at the Starkey International Institute for Household Management, the country's premier school for domestic help. The Pentagon, in short, is now training butlers....