Even worse when the summary hints that the whole ODST program has been disbanded.

: Also, I'd been hoping they'd left that "Spartan is your rank"
: nonsense in Initiation. It's kind of perverse seeing career marines like
: Buck get stripped of their hard-earned ranks in the name of
: "equality" or whatever (but I like how Buck at least calls them
: out on the hypocrisy of that).

Doesn't go far enough.

: The presence of a clear chain of command is
: a basic requirement for an organized military force and Spartans are
: supposed to be as military as they come. The "no ranks" policy
: also has no precedent in the S-IIs or IIIs, so where did it come from and
: why would anyone thing it was a good idea?

My guess? The No-Ranks policy was introduced when the writing team realized that Palmer ignoring direct orders to apprehend the Chief and then following illegal orders to assassinate Catherine Halsey makes her look like a hypocritical thug. Retconning the Spartans to be rankless (And changing the lieutenant addressed by Del Rio to some faceless, squishy member of the bridge crew) was the best fix they could come up with.