Im active duty....i'll tell you why. Its because for some reason or another, many officers in our military are leftists. For example, the surrounding area of the base im on is considered a fairly "hot" zone for covid. Our post commander has lifted all the drastic mandates. He's put out "guidance", and we have many precautions to abide by, but we are free to go about our business.

so basically its hit or miss with their political ideology

Free, unless in this instance, you wish to frequent and patronize a business without a mask MANDATE.

My husband retired as a Maj. and yes, there was the old boys club, and if you were not part of it, you were out... no matter how good at the job you were, or how positively you impacted the mission.. but now I think on it, the hypocricy was very typically leftist, so yes, I believe even back then, leftism was also the issue.