I don’t see much to admire in someone who’s only virtue is to be hard on everyone around them in wartime, and otherwise a low life in every other way.
Well said, and not just in wartime.
It's called "Toxic Leadership."
The Army made an extraordinary step just in the past few years to address this issue: it actually admitted that it exists.
The whole myth about the "hard nosed tough as nails" military guy that "gets the job done" is just that. A myth.
I retired from the Army. I've seen many senior officers and NCOs like that. I've worked for them, too.
They're incompetent. They use abuse, cussing, screaming, yelling, ridicule, and everything else to cover up their incompetence.
A competent leader, by definition, is not abusive.
It is called the Alec Baldwin syndrome.