That was my hesitation as well. My kid is young, didn't want to start that sort of thing early - he has no idea what the military is right now, only thinks guns are for hunting. They do say "Jake is a navy seal" but it doesn't go into it in any detail. It does have each division of the military's codes (along with viking codes, samurai codes, etc) as an example, but it's not a major part of the story and you can literally just skip those pages.

I am a self-driven adult, but I even found value in how simply it explains the concept of self discipline. Have you ever had someone explain to you the difference between motivation and self-discipline? I was nodding along because I knew these concepts, but hadn't seen them explained in a way that was just perfectly crystal clear.

Spoilers (funny to write this for a kids book):

In one chapter, the kid learns how to learn, and learns that some people are naturally quick at certain things but others have to work much harder. That it doesn't mean you are dumb if you don't learn something really quick, that there are techniques you can learn that help if you just try.

It also has a bunch of good stuff on humility, working well with others even if they have bullied you in the past, respecting yourself, etc. For example, the kid is getting bullied (amongst other things going wrong with his life). He trains all summer so he can defend himself, stands up to the kid in a way that isn't physical (it doesn't glorify that in any way) and then befriends him. He then invites him to come play with the other kids. The way he becomes friends with him after being bullied by him for an entire year takes an incredible amount of humility and kindness, and made me feel like I could improve in how I relate to other people I have had conflict with.

No it doesn't. I listened to the audiobook and agree it has very good lessons. One of the big ones has to do with empathy. I wish I'd had a book like this when I was a kid.