“Hate to ask this, but have you ever spent any time in uniform?”
I think you can take it for granted that he(or she) has not. I started at $326.10 a month, three hots and a cot, about 5 years before you did.
Air Force, and not directly involved in combat arms, but I think your guesstimates are pretty close. There are always some folks who will follow orders, no matter what they are, but also quite a few who really THINK about what their oath means. Especially when they’ve taken if more than once. I also taught “Law of Armed Conflict” shortly before my retirement, and we got into the military responsibility to obey lawful orders, and to disobey unlawful orders, quite a bit.
WRM, MSgt, USAF(Ret.)
bump