A perfect modern example of the possibilities is the story of Doris Miller, who in the 1940s U.S. Navy was regulated only to be a cook or stewart, since that's how segregation was mandated in the armed forces back then. He won the Navy Cross for extreme gallantry and risk of life in actual combat with an armed enemy force and going beyond the call of duty. at Pearl Harbor, something he was not expected to do as a cook.

David