The passage that always gets me to laugh on every re-read:

"But your most insidious chronic problem is in the area of... how shall I put this precisely... subordination. You argue too much."

"No, I don't," Miles began indignantly, then shut his mouth.

Cecil flashed a grin. "Quite. Plus your rather irritating habit of treating your superior officers as your, ah..." Cecil paused, apparently groping again for just the right word.

"Equals?" Miles hazarded.

"Cattle," Cecil corrected judiciously.

I love seeing Miles learn how to work with (and around) people who are malicious toward him - how when they're subordinates, he tries to evade the consequences of their hatred while not costing them face, and when they're superiors threatening innocents, he's happy to pull on rank, family connections, and random other skills to protect others.

... and loved the "oh, by the way, this is the SECOND TIME in your damnably short military career that you've faced formal charges for treason." Because Miles is apparently incapable of rescuing anyone without tripping over technicalities that get normal people executed.