Researchers were studying why some seniors thrived inside such facilities, while others experienced rapid physical and mental declines. A critical difference, the researchers determined, was that the seniors who flourished made choices that rebelled against the rigid schedules, set menus, and strict rules that the nursing homes tried to force upon them.
The author is establishing a strange dichotomy by contrasting military service to long-term care facilities or nursing homes. In a military structure, those who are subversive to the status quo or not treated kindly. However, the treatment of subversives in the nursing home example the subversives are treated with a sort of whimsy, as if in that context it is OK. That is not to say that I do not endorse such behavior, because senior citizens are adults and should be given as much agency and control over their lives as possible. However in the grander scheme of what the author is discussing, these two examples seem to be at odds with each other if not completely contradictory.
