WW2 was fought to the end...we gave the axis an ultimatum, unconditional surrender, and we bombed them ‘back to the stone age’, as Curtis Lemay would have said. It ended....we WON. Japan and Germany were in ruin...(as was much of Europe and Asia )
Korea, Vietnam, the 1st and 2nd gulf wars/Afghanistan?
seems we fought them,just to fight them. No end point, not sure who the enemy is...now under the current occupant of the White Hut, we appear to be switching allegiances. The Taliban and al Qaeda are being courted by the _resident and his actions in Libya (before during and after 9/11/12) prove we are in a world of hurt where. We may lose Israel.
the reason most of the vets in Vietnam were volunteers was probably because many people of draft age saw the writing on the wall and found a way around a war not being fought to an end...fought to WIN.
I wouldn’t suggest to anyone to join the military at this point in time...not with the White Hut running things.
If I understand correctly, the military is downsizing and so its need for new recruits is less than before.
That means they will need to accept only the best of the volunteers, and those after four years will be in positions of leadership when the next Republican administration takes office.
Just like anything else, the best time to "buy" is when a market is down.
So I'd say this is a great time for a young person to join the military -- if they're good enough to make it... ;-)