I totally agree with you. Some lib argued with me about Hurt Locker. They felt it was the most realistic movie about the military they had ever seen. I told them there was nothing realistic about it. There was no way people that looney would be allowed on a demolition duty. Crazy as that loon was, he would never have made it out of boot camp with my drill sergeant dad.
I think the point they were trying to get over was that being on that kind of duty MAKES you a looney! Certainly, in the movie the main character is depicted as someone who gets such a high on the adrenalin rush of the job that he is unable to properly adjust to “normality”. In other words, the implication is that war (specifically the war in Iraq now) is distorting and corrupting people. Marvellously supporting message eh?
Now of course, bomb disposal IS highly stressful, and under stress people do very odd things, BUT, the military is very well aware of the pressures and I’m sure keeps a very close eye on those doing it. I would imagine that soldiers who begin to act like the protagonist in “The Hurt Locker” are going to hoiked out pretty quickly.