Have you ever been in the military? I have, protesting is not allowed, period. Should one take it upon themselves to break protocol and protest the consequence will be rapid and severe.
I'll go out on a limb, to suggest the military you once knew, may not be the real military of today.
--The real military of today gave Bradley Manning body mutilating surgeries, so he could call himself Chelsea and make believe he was a woman.
--The military of today is the result of decades, of various social experiments, among them being "affirmative action."
In order to move up in rank, one needed to "buy into" a lot of nonsense. The people at the very top today, authorized Bradley Manning's adventure.