Walk by a military recruiting office and take a look at the people waiting outside to be processed. I often do on the way to lunch. For the most part, these are not our nation's finest youth. Most are smoking, dressed sloppily, and have that look that I can only describe as "punk". I'm not necessarily talking about the term for a new breed of rockers but more the classic definition of punk that includes the losers and scum you'd walk to the other side of a darkened street to avoid.

From what I'm seeing, my guess is the military is what they view as a necessary stop in a life of frustration. I know where that comes from although I chose to hold off joining until I knew there were no major foreign entanglements. That they'd be signing up during a controversial engagement where scores are coming back missing parts of their bodies without a win in sight says volumes about these people's state of mind.

I'm certain there's a percentage that truly believe it to be an act of duty and patriotism but I have to tell you, I saw little of those people during my tour of duty. Most were in it for economic or educational reasons or an escape from some aspect of life they simply couldn't master at the time.

I'd be willing to bet that, if you asked an honest recruiter these days what's changed in the past 5 years, they'd tell you that we had a strong class of recruit right after 9/11 and that the quality has slowly deteriorated since. I dread the future of our military.

Art