Somewhat funny i actually realized this dynamic when watching star trek. Whenever they need to do something illegal they simply put their badges on the desk and just like magic they are no longer bound by federation ethics.

That's the main reason I don't like the "good people in uniform as beacons of virtue" trope. That always happens. Every time I see that on screen I immediately imagine the morally inverted version of the same plot.

At least in Babylon-V such a decision is something not reversible and important for the main characters.

And in SG-1, despite that being sort of a piece of military propaganda, that too doesn't happen too easily.

But there the main characters are not some beacons of anything, they are just people with their own way.