20+ years of non-stop war will do that. Every 18 year old thinking about service has known nothing but war in Iraq, Afghanistan, and a handful of other place,

20+ years of non-stop war will do that. Every 18 year old thinking about service has known nothing but war in Iraq, Afghanistan, and a handful of other place, most of which were abandoned and not won. For those with parents who serve, they saw extended and repeated wartime deployments. Contrast that with my generation (late GenX). The single "big" war growing up was the first Iraq War. It was relatively popular and we "won" the war... the follow-on was no-fly enforcement, but minimal boots on the ground. And we grew up with parents deployed on a regular schedule to Germany or Korea, usually relatively comfortable places.