I want to be super clear here, I actually have no special objections to e.g. recruiting in high schools for college ROTC programs. As you say, the goal is to pr

I want to be super clear here, I actually have no special objections to e.g. recruiting in high schools for college ROTC programs. As you say, the goal is to produce an effective officer at the other end of years of development, but also years of just maturing and growing up outside of the home. A good friend of mine actually separated from the Air Force (as a captain) and subsequently rejoined specifically to do that (as a stepping stone for getting a waiver to fly an A-10, but he was deemed just a little too colorblind for that, and so he resigned as a major), and it didn't seem at all problematic. My issue is specifically with recruiters driving enlistment right out of high school, especially for jobs that don't have much of a civilian equivalent market. My friends the nuke techs, or the guy I knew who did something with missile controls on a guide missile cruiser were pretty much in the same spot as when they started, but with the GI bill (although only one of those three used it). The guy I knew from high school who deployed to Afghanistan got a Purple Heart and a Combat Lifesaver certificate, but not much else before he was old enough to buy a beer. Yeah, its an important job, but its just a job, and we don't let Walmart try to drive applicants in 3rd period. If the steady diet of nationalism and militarism that kids get from age 3 on isn't enough to get them to join up, maybe we should rethink letting them interrupt Algebra 2 to dangle $50k in front of a bunch of 17 year olds.