Not my words but Sander.
Basically because the Sturm Officer is basically an Ober squad.
The NKVD panflets is a not a direct retreat, there's RNG as to which effect occurs and takes time.
Yeah, the new Sturm Offizier is primarily designed as a combat unit as with vet 5 (easy to get because of shared veterancy) it performs as a light Obers squad for a much cheaper price. The abilities are more secondary utility which is why I think it's okay for them to be slightly less efficient than the Commissar's, because that unit is primarily geared towards utility and isn't that powerful in combat. Similar to things like how elite anti-infantry units generally get a much more powerful grenade for only a slightly higher cost than regular grenades. Some units or commanders get more efficient tools due to various circumstances.