It might help to start by getting rid of the ranks and other military trappings.
The list from just the last few decades is very long.
How do you square that with your view that there are consequences for bad behaviour?
I’m sure there are lots of petty power games and actual enforcement of rules back at base most of the time, but armies have a record of behaviour that is probably worse than any other profession.
Even your description of ‘extreme punishment’ sounds like it may be crossing into something that isn’t acceptable or legal. Hazing and such like isn’t discipline or rule enforcement.
I believe we were talking about current affairs not "war bad". Cops on average have significantly worse behavior than military personnel and it's not even close. When we're talking about the military that also doesn't just mean FOB's in the Middle East.
>Even your description of ‘extreme punishment’ sounds like it may be crossing into something that isn’t acceptable or legal. Hazing and such like isn’t discipline or rule enforcement.
I appreciate your altruistic tone—legality is different while serving unfortunately. You are legally not considered a citizen or protected by laws that consider citizens. That being said this, the punishment I'm talking about is not hazing. It's more of what you would consider an overly severe sentence by a Judge.
I also should not have said "every" rulebreaker.
Some are more professional than others, but giving young guys guns and sending them into challenging situations is going to result in people getting shot.