Is the Planetary Union in "Orville" a military?

Just like regular Trek then!

 

I will just post what I told a friend that just saw a scene from it...

In a society where there is no money and you seem to be able to get most things you want just by asking for them, how would you ever get anyone to volunteer for a dangerous job if you also made it an overly strict place to work...
This is something that TNG and later got wrong. Unless people just LIKE being ordered around... You would have to run it more like the Scouts, where honor is everything and you may be looked down upon, but no one is going to stop you from quitting anytime it is safe to. They seem to run on a reputation as currency basis. If you want to do something that is not 'free', you will have to convince someone that is in charge of that to let you... And the better you reputation is, the more likely you are for them to agree to it.