The problem was simple. A procedure and an unbending rule for everything. None of it tested in the real world till the shooting started. Then after the bodies start to pile up sometimes a brain cell turns on the the rule book get thrown out. the problem with wars like Korea and Nam is that it took a long time for the body count to inspire any brain cells to turn on.
It had nothing to do with the intelligence gathering operation run by all branches of the service. It has everything to do with the day to day adherence to mind breaking stupid rules written for an age that is long gone. sometimes centuries in the past. Starting with the haircut. Original it was to find and treat lice.
The reason guard and reserve service don’t count is cause they are sometimes the ones to bring some ideas into the madness. Too much of that exposure to the civilian world as an adult will do that.