Originally posted by: r3n
no, you can join the army to go into research, admin, medical, or thousands of other jobs. but not without grades at uni and college before hand. the only thing youre going to be able to do if you go at 17 is become a grunt, and probably get blown to pieces by a suicide bomber in some middle eastern country.

so, with that said; have fun sk! hope its cracked up to be all you expected, and i hope your family feels a lot safer in the knowledge that its likely you might die anyday!
Not true, I have friends that signed up with the Air Force. When you sign up, they have you take a test. Depending on how well you do in certain areas, decides whether you go to their tech school (after basic), or whether you end up being a so-called "grunt." Both of the people I know that signed up with the air force, did well enough to be placed into their tech-school, without any previous education past that of High School.

Onto the subject of whether joining the Air Force, Navy, or Army is a just cause, I would have to say it most definately is. These people are out there, putting their lives on the line daily so that you can sit on your ass, and type messages against them. That's called freedom. They don't care that you're against them, they're fighting for a country they believe in. You may not like President Bush, you may think that the war in Iraq was just for oil, something I personally don't believe, but don't bad mouth the armed forces while you sit safely at home, reaping the benefits of what they put their lives on the line for daily.

To the people that looks down on the Navy because they supposedly just "push a button" and kill people, take a closer look. Who do you think pilots our submarines, which are always in danger during a war due to other submarines. If an enemy decides on doing an air strike, do you think you're going to be safe on a boat? No, your boat can come under enemy fire, just like land-based troops can. The men and women in the Navy put their lives on the line, and for people to look down on them, and just say that they "push a button" and kill people, sickens me.

(edit) Oh, and r3n, the fact that suicide bombers exist is one of the reasons we need armed forces. If we weren't there to stop most of them, there would be a lot more civilian casualties than there are now.