Agreed. I doubt that there are more than 5% of troops in the field who shine their shoes, have white sidewalls, use brasso on their beltbuckles and so forth. But are they effective at their job? That’s the question and that’s typically what they are rated on.
And so it should be.
And most of those are guys trying to get out of guard duty, want to be “soldier of the quarter” or bucking for promotion. I was a notoriously disheveled soldier yet some how made E-6 in less than four years.