I tend to agree. In things like ranger school the saying goes cooperate and graduate. That doesn’t mean cheating, it means providing moral support, encouragement, suggestions, etc. The other point is sometimes people get tunnel vision on task completion. There are work arounds to get the task done. Not cheating but a more efficient way. The other thing about wash outs from ranger school is it is a mental attitude. You receive an order and it is to be followed verbatim . I know people who washed out because they had a better idea, knew a short cut, etc. The first week at about 21:00 hours they were told to go in the barracks and write an essay. It was noisy so the individual went out side with a friend to write. An instructor came by and caught them. Out first week. People think they can run roads, catch some sleep, sneak food, etc. Those are what disqualifies a lot of people. Has nothing to do with strength or stamina.
When I was in the USN, I remember our Chief giving us a very serious lecture before we deployed, many of us for the first time who had never set foot on a flight deck before. (I have to paraphrase, but it was dead serious, and went something like this:)
"When you work on the flight deck, remember everything we have taught you. Some of those things may seem harder or unreasonable, but they were taught to you that way for a reason. If you think you have a better way to do things, don't do them that way. On the flight deck, things are done a particular way for a reason, and many of those rules were written in blood."
There is much in the military that is like that. It is why, when you are given a command or an order, as you point out, it is to be followed verbatim. (at least for the more inexperienced guys like me it was)