military - 10 years (officer) - family reasons
US company 3 years (supervisor/manager) - downsized (yes, RIF)
US/China JV - 6 month (manager) - wouldn't bring family to China
US/China JV - 2 1/2 years (GM) - project sold, company dissolved by parent, no US comparable positions, returned to US
US company - 3 years (manager) - tough, challenging environment, offered new position in China as GM
US China company - 5 years (GM) - was a great ride, last six months COO went nuts, pulled benefits, withheld pay
US China company - 2 years (GM) - loved it, tough boss, company restructured, my position deleted
US China company - 10 years (MD/VP) - love it, I'll stay for the duration, or until they lock me out....

That said, for my last statement and to answer your question... EVERY job brings change with it. Your original perceptions are quite often very wrong. And quite often, the changeover of people is just as much a cultural change as the company as a whole.

In the military, I think that's a benefit for us. Leaders/Commanders, are always in flux. If you get lucky enough to join a new post that coincides with a leadership change, and don't lose other key leaders, you are either very lucky, or very unlucky as the door swings both ways. In my experience, there are the jerks in the military, but the longer you serve, you also see that by and large, they are weeded out. No one likes a jerk, even if they did go to West Point. And trust me, office politics are stronger nowhere than in the military. We call it "playing the game" and it's a necessary skill to be learned. The old saying "I can stand on my head as long as it takes" just means that eventually, this too will pass.

In the civilian world, that movement can be much faster at time in places like tech companies, but it can also be much slower, where people stay in their jobs for 8-10 years or even a full career.

Many of the companies I worked in are like that, they had a large number of long term employees, who loved the company they joined 20-30 years before, and have seen the growth, and accepted the changes over the years. Because CHANGE happens. The difference I see is that all of those companies had a culture, and you either accepted it, or you left.

In the case of the company I left when the COO went nuts, he had designs on completely changing the company. He decided to use our China operation as his test bed, and I decided I didn't want anything to do with it. So after meeting all his goals during my six month search & notice, I left. He ultimately was removed by the family board, they had no desire for a new 'culture', and were not happy I left.

My current gig comes with a great company with a wonderful internal culture. One that I was tasked to learn and implement in my role. And even then, while our culture survives, there has been tremendous change in the last 10 years, especially here. I've had to accept some very hard changes to my scope and control of different functions, but it's also come with added responsibility and trust in my position. And I'm in a position where I am not only a gatekeeper for our culture and basic principles, but a teacher and mentor to our future leaders.

So, take a hard look before you jump. I see and hear a lot about guys moving around to new positions just because of minor irritations due to politics or structure changes. Sure, sometimes you just can't accept it, and you move on for personal reasons... but in my opinion, when that happens TOO often, it's not the job that is the problem.... it might be you. Not saying that fits you now, but worth thinking about.