We have 2 kids in the military and as long as it doesn't affect them, they are just waiting it out like most of us would with a bad boss. They aren't highly placed though.

I do think he's a raging misogynist and racist, and doesn't hide it. Both our military kids are white (mostly, enough to pass certainly) and men, so they aren't being targeted directly by his policies. They do know he is making the military weaker but figure they can wait him out (again, like most of us would do with a bad boss)

I don't think it's so much that people are just placating him, more that he, like Trump, fires anyone who opposed him so then ends up surrounded by yes men, with no idea he's making bad decisions. Like if I relied on copilot to help me make decisions, yes? "Oh yes, that makes perfect sense"