Single causes are elusive, obviously, but every friend/​relative of mine who joined did share at least one quality: they felt that they were unskilled in formulating goals and then pursuing them. They hoped that the military would provide a (socially vindicated) goal, and further that it would help them gain experience in the generally useful skills of planning and execution.
Basically, they thought that time in the military was a way to beat akrasia in a permanent way. Note that recruiting efforts often advertise this as a primary benefit.
Poorly, in my anecdotal examples. The military does seem to have developed some effective ways to build Awesomeness while in the military (evidence available to me includes productive occupation, sustained physical fitness, and proactive social behaviors), but they depend on participation in the military hierarchy to sustain those behaviors. After leaving that hierarchy, one of my friends spent the next year unemployed and working his way through every horror movie on Netflix; another spent four years getting a PhD in underwater archaeology that she decided not to use. Statistically, veterans are unemployed at higher than national averages in the United States- although I suppose there are multiple reasons we might expect that to be true.
Why do people join the military?
Single causes are elusive, obviously, but every friend/​relative of mine who joined did share at least one quality: they felt that they were unskilled in formulating goals and then pursuing them. They hoped that the military would provide a (socially vindicated) goal, and further that it would help them gain experience in the generally useful skills of planning and execution.
Basically, they thought that time in the military was a way to beat akrasia in a permanent way. Note that recruiting efforts often advertise this as a primary benefit.
How did this work out for them?
Poorly, in my anecdotal examples. The military does seem to have developed some effective ways to build Awesomeness while in the military (evidence available to me includes productive occupation, sustained physical fitness, and proactive social behaviors), but they depend on participation in the military hierarchy to sustain those behaviors. After leaving that hierarchy, one of my friends spent the next year unemployed and working his way through every horror movie on Netflix; another spent four years getting a PhD in underwater archaeology that she decided not to use. Statistically, veterans are unemployed at higher than national averages in the United States- although I suppose there are multiple reasons we might expect that to be true.
Ok, deciding not to use it is suboptimal, but getting a PhD in four years is pretty impressive in itself.
Depends where. 3-4 years is standard in the UK, for example.
This was the united states, so four years was fairly quick.
For some patriotism, but even without this the pay and benefits can make joining your military a rational, self-interested decision.