I went to Basic in late 1970 and heard the same things. Basic Training back then wasn't even as physical as it was in the early 60s - according to the NCOs I worked with during my AD years. Now, it must be said, I spent almost all of my 39 years in aviation, so I didn't have a lot of first-hand experience with what the Infantry did, but I will say that during the runup to an OEF/GWOT deployment, we all got a fair amount of practical training for combat duties.I can only speak from my fathers POV, but he was making the same complaints about soldiers in the early 90s, just before he retired. He had Vietnam and DS1 under his belt, and thought that soldier were too coddled. I remember asking him about the movie Full Metal Jacket, and he said said it was spot on (same with Officer and Gentlemen). I remember he quipped that a DS would be in Leavenworth today if they still did that.
In any large organization, you can always find a few immoral people to carry out illegal orders; especially if you prep them with the right propaganda and couch the orders in the right way.We are going to nuke our own country? How many F-15 pilots will actually fire on our own citizens? Given the choice do you follow the political elite you know doesn't give a **** about you??