Originally posted on 03/20/2012:

Hanies has it wrong...AGAIN. Go figure.

Most don't join for the riches...its a stepping stone to other careers since the largest companies hire prior service first due to the skills learned. Once you've been in the first year and a half and complete schools...base pay for even the lower enlisted competes with national average salary..Cost of Living is adjusted per region....add in health insurance/dental and the extra pay for jump status/housing/retirement packages and the GI Bill for school they are doing MUCH better than civilian counterparts....also VA home loans and USAA/Navy Fed auto loans are good interest rates for the younger guys to build on.

And regarding quality of men/women - sure you have lazy engineer corps and admin POGS but I'll take a responsible 19-25 year old military type vs the 19-40 year old union worker ANY DAY and match skills/education and competency in chosen field.