I went in because it's how poor kids go to college, here.

My buddy went in from Montgomery AL, as his economic alternatives were terrible, and he did report a high numbers of ex-felons attempting self-reform in his Marines unit; some with success, others missing the mark. He leveraged his time to great success by the time I met him, all his boyhood chums dead or jailed by 25.

I've known several members of my nation's armed forces who enlisted as a career and were capable of many other options, but they chose this one. We do choose it like Fireman, even though here it's thankless.

It seems entirely environment-dependent, though. I see one guy on here who claims to be ex-military but talks as if out of an armchair, and definitely has 'outlying' beliefs that would draw criticism from serving members.

I just can't predict it.

Yep that's right. I have friends who could've done many things with their lives but they value our armed forces and joined up instead. It's something I hold in high regard. It's not a washout only ensemble.