> > I'm not saying I would serve my country better as a grunt. I am going to join the Army because it is every mans' duty to serve his country. I am going to serve my country in many ways. The military is one. Paying taxes is another. Teaching college students is another way. I still think that every able man should join the Armed Forces. After he has served for two years how ever long he choose to serve, he should go find a proffesion to serve his country, like a buisness man, or a teacher, or a farmer, or whatever. Almost every job benefits the country one way or another. So I still say every able-bodied man should join some branch of the military before settling down and having a set proffession.
>
> You will end up with a huge number of mental health problems, if everyone in the nation spends a tour in the military. I'm not sure that hospitals could cope with the huge number of people who are psychologically or emotionally unable to go through boot camp without some kind of breakdown.

There I sort of disagree. Boot camp is brutal, and it does tear you down, but that's where the movies stop telling the story. The purpose of boot camp is to *rebuild* an individual. Admittedly there will be some people who simply cannot cope with it, but on the whole, I believe basic training is something that will only help an individual mature and generally become a better person, especially if that person is going in spoiled and arrogant.

However, that's a nitpick. Gortman, you still haven't said WHY you think that, among the many ways one can serve one's country, military service is somehow magically the one everybody should be REQUIRED to make. Personally, I think it's absurd. Our military wouldn't know what to do with us all anyway if all able-bodied men tried to enlist.