disgraced and disowned, another one of the clowns

Ashley is a soldier whose loyalty is to her people and her duty first. Military glorification aside ('cause that is the entirety of Mass Effect), that is the most noble type of a soldier to be. She does not sell out her principles, even for Shepard, and she's risking her life for her convictions multiple times throughout the series. She also goes off on a radical pro-human rally at the Citadel and is genuinely horrified by the sentiment of them all, and it takes her less than one game to become genuinely worried for Liara after the latter's mother dies. Her flawed perception of aliens is a point for character growth - which a lot of aforementioned characters do not do, by the way. She's a strong, responsible older sister and as older sisters often do she carries the weight of their family "curse", ready to heroically give her own life to cleanse it. Questionable, yes, but does give her certain honor, if not a ticket to therapy. Her readiness to point a gun to anyone in the name of protection, including Shepard or another member of the crew, like Wrex, is a point of admiration (again, as long as we operate within the series' premise of "Alliance soldiers good"), not contempt.