I've been debating whether or not to add my 2 cents to the discussion of the benefits of military service.
I was a "lifer" retired after 22 years of active duty, so obviously I'm a tad biased.
In 1968, the draft was still in effect and military service was a given. My four older brothers all did their time, the two oldest in the Army as draftees, took whatever job they were assigned and hated it the entire time. The next two in the Air Force. They enlisted for school, one for avionics, one for computer programming. Both pursued civilian careers related to their choice after a 4 year enlistment. I chose to join rather than wait to be drafted. I did well enough on the ASVAB test battery while in High School to be guaranteed Electronics School when it was time. I went Navy primarily because it wasn't the Army or the Air Force, and I had no interest in being a Marine.
Nearly 2 years of technical school before my first actual duty station. It did require a 6 year obligation but I felt it was worth it.
One thing led to another and 22 years later I retired with a tidy pension, a good education and 20 years of experience.
My point is that it CAN be a good experience, but like most things you have to put some effort into it and it's certainly not for everyone. The Services don't want the draft either because they have no control over the quality of enlistees that way. The days of "Go to Jail or Go to the Army" are long past. Pretty much any military occupation classification has a healthy dose of technology these days and unmotivated people that don't want to be there anyway will not fill the bill.
