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I know that this may sound silly coming from a person who have frankly worked for the military for a million years, I too would never join the military. My job does involve helping to enlist people in the Navy, but I never push it, I just make sure the paperwork is correct, they have never done any drugs and do not have any major criminal involvement. The only way I personally would go to war is if my family was threathened. I am still amazed that I have been on this thread considering how I truly feel. Heck if I had kids, I would never push them to join the military, I would not stop them, but I would not push it.

Why does it weird you out? I was 16 in my first year of AFJROTC. You're not agreeing to sign up for the military. It just helps you make a little more informed decision about the military. I'm glad I took the class, even if I don't enlist, because the class has given me a better understanding of how the military works, and it's made me a little less afraid of being a leader. I think my shyness would have gotten the better of me, and changed my mind about auditioning for A Midsummer Night's Dream last year, and I would have missed out on a lot. Don't put down the program just because you don't know a lot about it.

IF I join the military, I'd be in a job that I wouldn't be on the front lines, or fighting at all. I realize that by being in the military, I'd be feeding the 'war monster', but even if I don't join, ignoring the war won't make it go away. Weather or not I approve of it, there are American troops in Iraq. The best resolution right now is if we manage to bring democracy to the nation, because by withdrawing abruptly, we'd be leaving an anarchy (like the British left in Somolia). More people would die if we left without putting some government into place. It's a lot easier said than done. But I suppose the question of 'should the troops be pulled out of Iraq' is really a question of wich is worse: a lot more American lives lost, or a possible Iraqi cost of many more than that?
War exists. It's foolish to ignore it.
But I still don't know if I want to join the military. It's not my religious beliefs preventing me from joining. I'm just not ready to give up everything I love about being a teenager. If I join the Navy, I have to give up so many of my hobbies, because I won't be on land most of the time. Air Force, I don't have to give up as much. But I have to put my dreams on hold. And I fear that I may lose them altogether because other things will become more important, and I won't be able to change jobs, and I know that civilian life will look so much different, and not nescicarily as good as it does now. I'm just wondering that if what I gain is an... equivilant exchange. That's the only terms I can put it in. If I go in the Navy, I'd have to give up cosplay. I'd be at sea, and around other people all the time. I couldn't even celebrate the sabbats in privacy.
... this has helped, a little. If I join, I'd join the Air Force. ... I may be a little afraid of growing up. I don't think I'm ready to be out of school yet. I need a few more years to find out a few things. I think college will be a good transition period for me. But the military is also a good option, because I'd get paid more in the military than I would as a teacher. Life's not about money, but it helps. And if I discover that teaching's not really my true calling, I have something to fall back on until I find out what I really should be doing with my life.

I don't know why it wierds me out... It just does... =S (particularly with them though xd ... Jess might know why, she knows them)