In modern times the legitimate role of the military has changed. That became evident after very prolonged and intense military activity in former South Vietnam was not effective.
In various arguments by atheists, the members of particular religious denominations are accused of only being members because their parents were members. Perhaps some of them are indeed only following what their parents did. Similarly in politics many of the people in South Vietnam were communists because there was already an older generation of communists, if not so much in South Vietnam as also nearby. It can be argued that the people of South Vietnam had a "cultural affinity" for communism having a simple approach to life.
Although very few people understand why, there is no way science can be used to help anyone decide most things in life including, remarkably, whether to be a communist or a capitalist. Some people prefer the simplicity of life under communism (Former South Vietnam), and some people prefer the abundance of choices under capitalism (Taiwan). What the military needs to understand is that it is no longer possible to force people to accept most real choices whether communism or capitalism. Holding guns over/for the people of Vietnam did not make them capitalists. Most communist Chinese are probably aware by now that holding guns over/for the people of Taiwan will not make then communists.
In this modern, mostly civilized world the use of force is not going to work as it did in the past. The use of force will only appear ridiculous now. The military does not need and cannot use those people with a simplistic world view it used effectively in the past. What is required today is a thorough understanding of how society can work best in order to explain it to anyone who might need it explained.
Because holding guns over them is only worthwhile over the very worst people in society, many of the people whose job it had been to use force are finding they don't have "enemies" in the same numbers as before.
The area currently known as "Russia" is still communist and yet it is an economically advanced society over a large area. Anyway, they did have a space program when the United States still had a more active one. The area probably became advanced with considerable use of a port on the Black Sea they held at times historically that made commerce with Europe much easier. Rather than wanting to dominate the whole world, which domination no longer makes much sense, if it ever did, most Russians today probably just want a port on the Black Sea or their old Russia back.
Probably all four year college degree programs require at least one semester of English Language and many degree programs require more. The wonder is how anyone can get through college English without learning about Alfred Tennyson (1st Baron, often listed as "Alfred, Lord Tennyson"). He is the author of the famous poem, "The Charge of the Light Brigade" which is about a War in Crimea that actually happened. Some details might not be exact. Some lines from the poem are ...
...
Theirs not to make reply
Theirs not to reason why
Theirs but to do and die
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred
...
It is difficult to interpret it exactly, but perhaps it was an early argument for free trade.
Yet another problem with finding sufficiently despicable enemies to fight is in the Middle East. Although there are reports of horrific behavior it does not appear that most Israelis nor most Palestinians support any such horrific behavior. That is certainly not in the modern world anyway. Rather it is suspected such reports involve inaccuracies or perhaps even posers and bold lies. For example when most people in college in the United States say they support "Palestine," the Trump base assumes they agree with the horrific reports about "October 7" as those appear in the news. That is highly unlikely. Rather the students support Palestine because they find the horrific reports dubious for a number of reasons. For one thing it is still called "October 7" not "October" (by the way that was 1993) Being only one day it could easily have been faked. Also, because it was a really insignificant number of perpetrators compared to the population of Palestine, they might actually have been as evil as reported, but not larger numbers of Palestinians. War these days is not as organized as in the past and there are far fewer careful records. These days it is just tiny bands of roving marauders with no strong connections to anyone beyond their tiny band.
Benjamin (once used the nickname "Be Be" or "Bee Bee") Netanyahu appears ready and willing to use violence to subjugate Palestine. A serious impediment to returning any hostages is that most Palestinians have no idea who was taken hostage, if anyone really was. where they might be kept, or even whether they are still kept. It isn't likely but it is remotely possible that some "hostages" are playing along to create the story. There are that few of them. Netanyahu still does not appear to recognize how ridiculous the use of force appears in this modern world with so very few willing to play along with military solutions.
Another example of outdated military activity is the bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities. How did people who do not understand what fallout is get employed in Iran's nuclear program anyway? Certainly they must know they cannot bomb Israel without much, if not most, of the fallout landing on Arab territory because Israel is such a tiny country. Then there is that Mutual Assured Destruction problem that keeps all moderately sane people out of nuclear war so far.
Much shorter haircuts and even buzz cuts can be very popular hairstyles for males. It appears frequently on office workers. Men who work in construction, electrical, vented systems, plumbing, landscaping, with automobiles, or as musicians in quite many cases have longer hairstyles, and it is not because they are effeminate. A deliberate purpose for much shorter hair on males was that people who work in offices and people in the military, especially the lower ranking military, do only what they are told to do (perhaps by people with real jobs). It was, and perhaps still is, considered important that the public should easily identify people in the military. Yes, the military gives them food, clothing, housing and a job, but no, the military did not give them the complete upbringing their parents should have given them. You should not take their advice too seriously. They should not pontificate on the internet. They should only act when given simple orders.
Just following simple instructions does not have to be a bad thing. When slavery was still legal in the South some slaves, maybe not many, actually liked having no responsibility other than following simple orders. They got everything they direly needed, and if the chicken coup fell apart it was probably the fault of someone else. And of course there are men today who want no more than to follow simple orders for the same reason.
Then too, shorter hairstyles on men can be great without meaning anything. Much like the color of a shirt it does not have to mean anything. People who work in "blue collar" jobs might wear a white shirt to the grocery store or to religious services. People who work in white collar jobs might wear a blue, green, khaki or pink shirt to various activities, even including their "white collar" jobs.
It is a pity then that the military has for so much history used hair length as a sign of rank. Now the people who have short hair who believed Trump was a great leader will be identified as people who really have no idea how it all works despite the fact they have all the food, clothing and shelter they can use. "Oh look! It's one of 'those' people. The 'Trumpers.' They have no idea. Do not take their advice on anything."
That is what is most likely to happen since Trump and his base are so very wrong about almost everything. Obviously there are many people on the internet trying to create an illusion that short hair on males ought to be a standard for all males. Then there are those people who fiddle with the numbers to make it appear Trump is doing better than he is.
His base would simply not believe anything negative about Trump. No amount of evidence nor strength of argument would deter them from believing their fantasy that they and Trump are the true leaders of the political right. They could not be told. It was necessary to show them. Things are not really going well for Trump, but many of them still do not see it. The only question now is how much worse it will have to get before they finally realize they are/were the problem and get in the right line? People who argue for Trump in the press like Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham must know they are going down with that ship, but they go anyway perhaps because when things go wrong there must be no doubt that Trump's influence was to blame, that he had all the support he could use. There is no better explanation.