(Revised) Seeing how they wore the discharge cap before the reconstruction tournament, knowing public opinion on military exemptions was already bad

It's a truly selfish "as long as it's not me" mentality.
If they had just let it pass quietly, juniors might have had a chance at exemptions too, but it's the same mindset of: "I'm exempt now, so I don't care, you guys can go suck it up." They're just looking out for themselves.