It does take forever to rank up. I'm at level 20 right now. Some of the rewards for ranking up the classes really suck, like unlocking the M16 for use by the Russians. That's cheap. If you unlock it, you should be able to use it whether you are American or Russian.
Exactly. I tried using the Engineer today (I'm usually assault) and I could only use the M4A6 or the russian equivalent. It's lame!