On Virtues of Scifi Military RPing (OOC Non-Broadcast)

For those of you who don't know, I originally came to this site as Darth Hauntruss - the infamous sorceress Sith Lady - but, what you may not know is Hauntruss (although a happy accident) is not my natural style of roleplaying, especially in terms of scifi genre.
I am come from a tradition of RPing hard military scifi characters. Some of my greatest and most fun characters were a pilot from the Principality of Zeon (Mobile Suit Gundam), an admiral of a renegade fleet (original scifi RP forum) and a fighter pilot who is out to prove that he can shake off his bad luck (Macross RP). So when I came here I was very interested in the Imperial scene -seeing one of my fav parts of SW was the old EU's more war focused novels - Heir to the Empire, Stackpole's X-Wing Series, Shadows of the Empire and the more recent Battlefront Book and Aftermath. What I have discovered instead here is that it is very much hard to keep a faction that is NonFU Military focused alive. Now there are a couple of reasons to this and I'm sure some of you already know of them.
But, what I'd like to lend my hand to is showing that the excitement and drama one may gain from playing a Jedi/Sith/Smuggler/Bounty Hunter can also be applied to what is sometimes considered a limited and rather unfulfilled type of character the soldier or the space captain.
Some consider the solider archetype to be all "Yes Sir" and following orders. But, there is so much more to it than that. Behind the armor and the rifle is a human being - now the greatest challenge in writing a soldier character is really establishing their reason d'etre - why are they even a soldier? What ideology compels this character to kill on command? Unlike Jedi/Sith characters who rely on emotional and semi-pious derivations of their character's motivations - a soldier must create his own motivation.
This could be patriotic zeal, a secret agenda, a circumstance that sees him with no other alternative. For Ricochet it is a debt she owes to the First Order who she considers "saved" her form a life of enslavement. The military code of the Order liberated her from her past. Gave her purpose. And thus, she is powered by an undying Imperialistic Zeal (along with a deep seated hatred for the disorder the Republic and Sith breed.) Ricochet is a classical weapon with a consciousness. She understands her place and will reconcile with atrocity for the cause of stability. But, that doesn't mean she has parts of her that reel from what she is capable of.
These elements make for a Imperial character with depth and melodrama. And with a faction like First Order or any other military nonfu orientated faction - it gives the opportunity for the exploration of a style of RPing that isnt much represented in the site and that being scifi military drama. From your Battlestar Galactica to anime like Legend of Galactic Heroes, Gundam, Macross and VOTOMS - military drama allows for characters who must grapple with their deeds and the duty the owe.
So when you create the Stormtrooper Number Etc. or a Pilot, think of the story of human behind it and the lifespan of that character, which usually is seen as short, can last longer than most force powered ones. The key is creating a story that relates to their occupation.
In the end, War is Hell. So how is it your Hell.