He was risking his men for specimens and was in a stressful situation after the apocalypse. It seems the film was only interested in making him into a villian when no body was right while everyone else was trying to convience you they are wrong. They would've been stronger together as a unit instead of every man for themselves.

Heck, Rhodes was right in the first place about leaving once supplies got low and that is what a few members ended up doing at the end when they originally told him rescue may still come. They also wasted more resources and telling lies about cures not even being worked on.