[quote=@YankeeSamurai]
[@Error] Quick nitpick, and others correct me if I'm wrong, but unless your character rose through the ranks as an enlisted NCO before becoming a commissioned officer (a "mustang", in which case he'd be very experienced), he'd be much younger. If Smyth is a brand new platoon leader, I think he'd be around, what- 23ish?
[/quote]

Yes. He'd have gone through college and done an ROTC program, unless he was a Westpoint graduate. My Platoon Commander in Afghanistan was 22.

EDIT: By the way, [@HeySeuss], if you have Netflix check out "Intimate Enemy" if you haven't already. It's a movie about the Algerian War. Really good stuff, if you're down to read subtitles (it's a French film).