XXmet
In general I agree with the principal of your post. But there are many holes of how you have presented it. We are far beyond the Pappy" Boyington” style of leadership where you brawled with any man that did not jump to your orders.
“Military get the enemy” if only it was that simple. As you well know with Vietnam who, what, where, was your enemy and like Afghanistan the added “win the hearts and minds” just further muddied exactly who the enemy was.
To imply that “am telling you is that doing this weakens our combat soldiers. Maybe that's one reason they are blowing their friggen brains out in record numbers when they come home.” Military personnel are committing suicide because of an officer that is not loyal is rubbish and sullies the memory of these people and what has driven them to do this. It also disparages those men and women of the police, firefighters, ambo’s that have been unable to handle the traumatic events they have been in and succumbed to the pressure.
The world has moved on to what society was in WW1, WW11, Korea, Vietnam, and does not endorse leadership style of unquestioning loyalty. Just as you see Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller as a poor working cog in the machine the machine, if it still works as it did 50 years ago, is dated.