Which is why, as a society, we very specifically outline their chain of command and that chain of command ends at the one person in the country that must be ele

Which is why, as a society, we very specifically outline their chain of command and that chain of command ends at the one person in the country that must be elected by the majority of people in the country. So while I understand Military Justice might look harsh to civilians you have to understand that it’s absolutely necessary. The guys with guns who have the legal right to kill people have to be held to the highest standard possible. In sane places, ordinary individuals are also allowed to own guns and to kill people (mostly limited to self-defense). Some states have the death penalty; that power rests with a judge or set of judges (with approval from twelve semi-random people). I think it has more to do with the need to act together and be reliable. Given the top-down decision structure and time/resource constraints involved in going to war, soldiers not following orders can be rather like your brakes malfunctioning or one of your tires falling off while driving down the Interstate. Probably there's also a bit of historical artifact in not distinguishing sufficiently (I believe there are some recognized distinctions) between whether or not a particular incident could actually have that extreme of an effect. As do the paper pushers who deal with confidential data since they too can cause a person’s death through their actions. So can people designing or building bridges and skyscrapers. As such you have to understand the highest value in a soldier’s life must be “to follow orders”. Because if that soldier substitutes his own judgment for that of his commander than our whole society falls apart (this is how we get military coups). Which is why we force soldiers to sign over their life to the military for their term of duty and why we take away many of their rights as citizens. You, as a private citizen, can tell off your boss without any fear of legal repercussions but a soldier will go to jail for the same act because the highest military value is “obey your commander”. This is why the Nuremberg trials were a complete farce.