I'll admit to a bit of naïveté here. When I was considering the Army, aged 15 or so, I didn't understand that the majority of the Army was posted overseas. BAOR accounted for approximately half, several regiments' worth in Honkers and Cyprus, not counting probably another couple regiments' worth in the US, Canada, Belgium, and the Netherlands. UK based units were predominantly training, and NI.
Given the prevalence of overseas postings in the 80s/90s, and the generation that it takes to change anything significant in the Army, it doesn't surprise me that VSOs and their families have attitudes stemming from back then. The defendant probably did regimental duty in Hohne or Osnabrück or similar, and had their characters so shaped. It doesn't excuse anything, but it might explain it.