the thing is, Pyle was just a little slow in the ways the military can't accept. When he came in, he was an affable sort of guy. Always smiling and chatty. Didn't really seem to be the type to lose their temper or have hate for another. He would have been fine doing just about any manual labor job where the ability to be gentle and friendly are an asset, like being an orderly in a hospital.

The movie reveals the purpose of boot camp is to traumatize young men and train them to follow orders, move fast, and kill without hesitation. Put simply, it sands away the finer edges that create the humanity of a person. But that was all Pyle really had. So he became a beast, driven by the rage the instructor fed him.

if he were more calculating, he may have waited to deploy and took out a flag officer. But shooting his DI has a logic to it. Fuck Hartman. He died too quick.