Do you think American soldiers are put on too high of a pedestal

[The Grand Nudger]

Allow, for a moment, that prussian militarism was also an issue of jingoism etc.....iow that people are remarkably similar no matter what stories we tell.  The US has a society wide sense of submisive duty, que the "give trump a chance" folks... the most vocal dissident invariably finds their ideological support in a sense of duty to the american ideal, and the military is -all about- diligence and professionalism. It may not seem that way from the outside, granted.......but you can't escape or argue with it from the inside. That isn't sold to the public (they're heroes), it's not uniform in the newly enlisted (do what you're told)......but work your way to the nco core and it's a different ballgame - suddenly the most effective and accurate comparisons are with an efficiently ruthless sense of militaristic corporatism. If you want to succeed there's a well defined path cirumscribed on all sides by your adherence to professionalism at the expense of any other consideration. Got buddies, fuck you. Got morals, fuck you. Got ideals, fuck you. They will decline your re-up if you don't fit the mold.

Perform, perform, perform.