Speaking as a veteran, no one accused service members of being smart.
I grew up in a Navy town. I am the son of a Marine combat veteran and drill instructor. My brother was (a fuck-up) in the Marines. My best man was a Naval Aviator for twenty years. A grandfather was a WW2 vet, one great grandfather a WWI vet, and another was in one of the last cohorts of horse-mounted cavalry in the American southwest. I had multiple friends who served, and military culture was everywhere growing up. I got as far as the Enlistment processing center before I told my dad I was joining up, and in the last wise act his MAGA ass ever did, he marched me into the recruiting office to “voluntarily separate for personal reasons.” I have no particular bone to pick with the average American servicemember, so believe me when I say…
A bunch of them are dumb as shit.
Even among those who aren’t, most who stay in longer than one contract have an authoritarian streak to some degree, and/or they know they’re at the peak of their “social capital” and possibly their earning potential too.
When I was in, I had a shipmate who said there were basically three types of people who stayed in the military.
Group 1: Small percentage, but they literally loved it, loved what they did, just felt right in uniform.
Group 2: Those who wanted/needed the insurance, education benefits, etc for themselves or their loved ones/families.
Group 3: Those who had no other options, and were juuuuuuust competent enough to not be kicked out every enlistment.