They're to obey lawful orders. There were a few times my Jesuit education got me in some hot water. My Trump card was that I never had any intention of making the Army a career.
Back in those days (76-84), all it took was a crappy rating report to end a career. The standard deviation between my outstanding reviews and my negative reviews was off the charts.
There were consequences to the officers who wrote the bad ones. On the first one, the Group Commander made his own comments (an unusual occurrence), blasting the review of the Battery Commander and Battalion Commander. On the second one, I protested it. The resulting investigation ended my boss' chance for selection to the Army War College. Didn't change the evaluation, but I had already submitted my resignation.
I admit to being a PITA much of the time, but it didn't stop my last battalion commander in Germany from offering me the chance to work for him again at Fort Bliss. My "reputation" preceded me, thanks to the Old Man. He valued imagination and intelligence from his officers, which is why I thrived under his leadership.
I would not have lasted long working for Kamala or Brandon.
Thank you for your service, and for being a PITA. I wasn’t in the military, but I did wear a uniform for 25 years, and was labeled the same by Administrators. My reputation among the people I supervised was high, and that was all I cared about.
I referenced mostly the botched (dare I say deliberately?) withdrawal ftom Afghanustan.
Thank you for your service!
Without going into detail, I experienced much the same treatment in the late 1960s - early 70s as a Regular Naval Officer.
I am VERY fortunate to be a retired O-6 USNR Aviator, but I KNOW I would not volunteer to serve in today’s CRAZY environment!
Someone needs to do some REALLY serious name-taking and ass-kicking to get the DoD back in line!
IOW, re-elect Donald J. Trump!