First off, I was an LSF independent, not navy. And despite what you say about LSF giving commands to navy members - I had no interest in such, I kept to myself and followed SA/LSF orders when in-group and working on coordinated patrols or hunting down criminals that had been spotted.
Second, I wasnt some independent happening along in a battleship, I was in a gunboat. I never claimed to have some super-high rank, only that my assignment was defense of zone 21 - and the only reason I ever TOOK that assignment in the first place was because the factioned SA/LSF left it completely undefended a majority of the time, and smugglers were using that hole to make quick money via cardamine from alpha to texas and back.
The main issue here is - I took the opportunity to fill a gap that the SA and LSF had left wide open because they were all too concerned with sitting at manhattan. I'd put money on the fact that I caught more smugglers at the alaska gate in a day than most LSF/SA catch in a week. I was doing a needed job, and doing it well without hassle, until the SA came along and decided that as an independent I didnt deserve that position, despite having an RP reason behind it and doing a service to make up for their laziness.