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Handgun training is primarily for officers, platoon Sergeants, and squad leaders and from what I understand it is purely marksmanship oriented.
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In the military, a handgun is largely a status symbol of little practical utility on the battlefield (unless you're a in a high-speed unit). Usually it's carried as a primary arm by guys who never leave the FOB just so they have a weapon. I carried an M9 in Iraq as an Infantry PL on top of an M4, but always figured it was a weapon of last resort or my walking around the FOB weapon.
The Army's "pistol training" is a Death-By-PowerPoint Preliminary Marksmanship Instruction, then you're basically handed a weapon and expected to qualify with it without a Familiarization Fire (unless you're a new cherry 2LT, then you'll often be told to go to Range Control and ask for the M9 Zero Range.....
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Also, what some claim as "inferiority" of the 5.56/223 round on the civilian side is not so much a big deal with the Military because they are supplemented with 7.62NATO, 50BMG, Grenades, Grenade lauchers, and Full-auto capability.
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Yup.
Most people I hear bitching about the 5.56 or 9mm are arm-chair commandos who don't understand the trade-offs between carrying lots of ammo (5.56) vs. a heavy hitting round(7.62). As you said, there's certain situations where a more powerful round is needed (such as Afghanistan or as a DMR), but I'd take more ammo over more power most any day.