She also quit sunbathing. The trick is to require that people in the military give up only as much personal freedom as is necessary. Deciding how much is what the military's recent troubles are about. When that decision seems wrong, familiarity can breed contempt. I couldn't help wondering whether he would also play favorites by sending another pilot to die for his son, or for his grandchild's mother.
People join the military to be a part of something different from the rest of America.
They want higher standards, even those who sometimes flout them. GIs can be irredeemably cynical and profoundly simple hearted all at once. What soldiers want is a clear policy, consistently applied. Only adulterous relationships that negatively affect a mission should bear on a soldier's personal freedom and career. Ralston's lover was a civilian rather than someone in the military, and the general didn't coerce her.