throwaway account: i am an enlisted member of a nato aligned military, recent sexual assault allegations and leadership misconduct scandals and coupled with covid-19, have exhausted most of the working members at the base i am stationed at. discussions of unionization, criticizing policy makers and high ranking officers in public has become a common occurrence. on a zoom call with a 100 or so troops, a handful of them just berated the senior officer of our division about handling sexual misconduct allegations and recent media stories of racial/homophobic/transphobic hatred. rumour has it that is not just the base i am stationed at

people are becoming outspoken about their political beliefs, both on the left and right. one person once said in a mess hall [content warning transphobia]

and he was berated, openly, despite being a senior non comissioned officer in a room of very junior members

i am on my way out, during the pandemic i was radicalized sharply left and put in paperwork to quit, but was held to finish the terms of my contract (2 years) because recruiting is shit. there is a big culture change and its being embraced by the new generation of troops, traditional army and military values are being upended at the lowest level, if leadership was smart they would try to embrace it and direct it in some neoliberal ghoulish way, but instead they just resist it which means the longer this shit continues to fester, the bigger the bubble will be when it bursts

it seems like it is not just my country, but others are also going through the same turbulence, although i cant say for certain since all i have access too is that specific countries news