This was a 4.5.
I am fairly sure the elevator pitch for this was 'Military SF meets Raymond Chandler' and it totally works. It helps that the author is writing what he knows on the military side. The 'Chandler' side of things lets him avoid one of the more common traps of milSF, making the protagonists colossal Mary Sue's.
This was sharp, neatly plotted and clipped along nicely. The middle twist was nicely from left field and the story played out to a natural conclusion.
There's some sharp observation about how capitalism forces poor military choices and forever wars as well.
Definite recommend and I will be reading the rest of these.