Wow, aggressively pacifist much?

Success at West Point is, and always has been, defined as graduating, so no, not at all subjective nor culturally determined.

Saying that "many military grads found their 'higher purpose' turned out to be slaughtering civilians and causing huge suffering and misery" shows a near-complete lack of understanding of what the military's task is and how they carry out their duty honorably (a few bad apples notwithstanding).