A penny for your thoughts

The colonels were appalled when they learned about Amy being the sole survivor of the first team to arrive on location, though not because of the loss of their soldiers which was far more common that they let the public know. The reason of their mood was that they had nothing to show for their losses which would look bad on paper which could result in being demoted.

That alone didn't sound so bad, but considering how colonels got to stay back and give orders why captains had to actually lead teams into combat was a game changer. They didn't mind participating in an operation against powerful creatures of insurmountable power as long as they didn't have to be the ones doing any fighting, which is also why they were comfortable in their positions as colonels since generals would also have to participate in battle.