The most telling change is the knife training scene. In the book, one recruit asks why they are learning knife fighting when they have tactical nukes, and the instructor explains the importance of being capable of responding appropriately no matter the level of violence required - a folly we see today with female police officers who are incapable of challenging a criminal physically and so have no tools between "ask for cooperation" and "shoot him."

In the movie the instructor instead stabs the recruit in the hand for wanting to understand why the training was important, because Verhoeven is a troglodyte.