"If I didn't get into that MBA program, I'd be a soldier"
"If I didn't pass my series 7, I'd be a soldier"
"If I didn't get into med school, I'd be a soldier."
Hear any lawyer, MBA, stock broker or doctor say this in a bar and you'd laugh and think, 'yeah, right...talk is cheap'.
I don’t think he is saying it in the “I’m a tough guy” vein trying to impress people. I think he is saying it as a compliment to those in the service.