[thecavemaster]

Some people in our military join for a job. Believe it or not, you dont make a lot of money in the armed forces. Some join to get away from the location that they are living in. They may see it as the only way out of a rut that their families have been in for generations. Others join because it is what they want to do. You can tell which branch of the service that they join as to why they do it. In the Army, you can get at least a 20,000 dollar signing bonus. In the Marines, you are lucky to get a t-shirt. Jobs in the Navy and Air Force are more technical jobs therefore people join them to use it as a stepping stone to get a better education. In all reality, it doesnt matter what your personal reasons for joining truly are. The important part is that people join. Even after all the problems and conflicts going on in the world today, people are still joining. So that changes everything.

But, you make more money in the military than you do picking
vegetables for Taco Bell or flipping burgers at McDonalds or
standing on the corner in "No Industry At All" USA, which
explains a lot of the recruitment numbers for the Army and
Marines. It DOES matter why people join. Rich kids don't
much join. Senators kids don't much join. Upper middle
class suburban kids don't much join. I wonder how many
people who graduated from Lexington Catholic or Fort
Thomas Highlands have served in Iraq? I would bet what
little I have that the number is pretty low.