[null and void]

Nooooooo, military service was federal service.

All mammals are animals, but all animals are not mammals.

Capeesh?

[chesley]

People you were not talented enough to make it at least into the infantry, were required to perform dangerous service.

It's been a long time, but I think the examples Heinlein gave were terraforming on Venus, and testing experimental equipment. Somewhere Pluto got into there, too.

I don't know if these positions carried military rank with them, or not, but I suppose they did. It's not soldiering, though.