What does “hoops” refer to in the context?
Question one: Were you involved in combat actions?
I checked yes.
Question two: After a murder-death-kill, rate your emotional state and indicate it by checking one of the following boxes:
A. Delighted
B. Malaise
The officer was still speaking. “We have this questionnaire down to an exact science. If it is determined that you are overly stressed, you will be given the opportunity to recuperate in the presence of the best doctors available. You won’t even have to leave. You will go home when you are cured and have recovered your requisite hard-on for your country.” He laughed a little after the last part, as if to let us know he was still our brother, that Mother Army still loved us just as much as she always had, and wasn’t it funny that we had to jump through these hoops in the first place.

What does “hoops” refer to in the last sentence?
PS: They were soldiers and taking evaluation of their ability to go back the common life.
Thanks!

Question

What does “hoops” refer to in the context?
Question one: Were you involved in combat actions?
I checked yes.
Question two: After a murder-death-kill, rate your emotional state and indicate it by checking one of the following boxes:
A. Delighted
B. Malaise
The officer was still speaking. “We have this questionnaire down to an exact science. If it is determined that you are overly stressed, you will be given the opportunity to recuperate in the presence of the best doctors available. You won’t even have to leave. You will go home when you are cured and have recovered your requisite hard-on for your country.” He laughed a little after the last part, as if to let us know he was still our brother, that Mother Army still loved us just as much as she always had, and wasn’t it funny that we had to jump through these hoops in the first place.

What does “hoops” refer to in the last sentence?
PS: They were soldiers and taking evaluation of their ability to go back the common life.
Thanks!

Answer

A hoop is basically a ring. In a circus you'd expect to find performers have animals like lions jump through hoops.

To 'jump through hoops' is an expression referring to this. To make someone 'jump through hoops' is to make them do unnecessarily difficult things.

Answer

'Jump through hoops' is a common phrase, meaning to follow an apparently complicated procedure.
It is commonly used to refer to bureaucratic requirements. I guess that it originally came from some sort of gymnastic exercise - I am sure that if you were interested, you could google the phrase.

Answer

I would not at all be surprised if that officer really did believe that he had this questionnaire down to an exact science. That's sarcasm in case you didn't pick up on it. And, I should had, has absolute faith in the truthfulness of this belief. Or perhaps, that officer was expressing sarcasm himself.

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