Why does your military organization suck?

[Kenjona]

My military organization sucks because it's being actively sabotaged. 2 of the 3 commanders on the Eastern front turned traitor and threw their lot in with the Empire that they were positioned to guard against. Course, half the reason they turned is because their weapon supplies from HQ were cut off with the order to 'fend for themselves'. The General was actually unaware of this as one of his other subcommanders faked the communication and told him all three commands had rebelled, so he doesn't question the lack of communication (as the subcommander is in charge of the bases patrols and has his loyal guards kill any messengers/arrivals before they get within sight of the base). This was because the subcommander was an agent for the Empire and was sabotaging the defense on that front, plus it gave him more weapons to send West to defend against the other nation that was threatening to invade.

Which is fine and all. That is suckage for plot purposes.

But has nothing to do with the underlaying rant of:
"A Recruit to a military organization will first learn how to follow their rules and regulations. How to wear a uniform, how to salute and show respect to their peers and superiors. Not be dumped into a sink or swim situation in the name of teaching them how to fight. That should all come later in their training arc, as it were."
Your military has an organization: Your recruits still join said force and still get taught how to act in said military. How to salute, what ranks there are and how to act, and so on.

So I disagree, that your military organization sucks. It is being affected by PLOT which sucks for your military organization.

Even if your story was about a bunch of recruits at training suddenly being forced to fight (which has happened before). That again is suckage for plot purposes, but the military still had an organization to train those recruits, even if some sort of author inspired plot interfered with it.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Some militaries are also a little TOO advanced, in a way, and wind up having more bureaucracy than is healthy...

 

[Kenjona]

This is pretty basic I'd say, and to some extent not standard across the globe. Many inland nations with no conflict have very perfunctory forces amounting to nothing more than processions.

Name me one and I will show you why you are wrong on this. I know of several "no" military countries and what you think may be only processional forces are not actually so. Also several others have gotten rid of their militaries because they rely on someone else's Military to protect them. Such as Lichtenstein and Switzerland's force agreements.

Also, in a fictitious settings where magic/Qi is involved and its a world not yet connected like the modern world, is rife with battles day in and day out, flags changing with every season, one could see how a military force be a bit ruff and haphazard around the edges.

They themselves probably grew up in different dynasty or their parents did, the resources for training common men will be less, so they become more of a mercenary band that hold no formal initiation to the empire's ideals. With magic involved they might seem way more capable than they really are, but they lack any stringent discipline passed over from the academias.

I am only ranting about baseline organizational training, which even Magic/Qi stories tend to have a modicum of. Especially when they include stuff like "Formations" and "Rituals" which require several people working together.

This is why in some well written ones, the stark contrast between the royal forces and the border patrol is clearly discernible. Everyone romanticise the border patrol as this rugged, experienced and "real" soldiers, but in reality most of these men are townsfolk who do the bare minimum and have always resorted to calling reinforcements from the central forces/nodal battalions.

Militias being a looser version of a standing militaries has always been a thing. But even those "Not real" soldiers have a chain of command and are taught about why they do what they are doing.

So yeah, actual military forces truly have discipline and skills of a professional but that doesn't mean there aren't any forces that fulfill the role even with lacking many of the basic stuff.

Mercenary companies are trained in formations, their chain of command and in forms of respect. My rant is for Authors who have a standing military, have a recruit arc and yet do not have their recruits learn anything about said military.