There is a guy like this in my tourist trap town. It’s half true. He is a veteran. He is not, however, homeless. He has a house in town. He panhandles in the summer, then takes himself to Florida in the winter with his “earnings.” Locals just roll their eyes at him.
I should have been more specific. When I said “the army is a job from which you can’t be fired”, I was comparing it to civilian jobs. At a civilian job,there’s no 3 year commitment.
For most soldiers, once you’re in, you’re going to stay in-- for the 3 years or whatever. .
Yes, after that, you can easily get fired.
But you’ve still had 3 years of steady pay with room and board, even if you are a lazy fuck-up.
That means that for some people, the army is a better, and easier, life than working at a similar job as a civilian.
The OP asked about saving wayward youth. Being in the army often can help such people to mature and learn responsibility…
But for a small number of people , the army is the opposite : a way to avoid growing up,and remain protected from the consequences of being an irresponsible lazy fuck-up.
In addition to what Loach said, in my time in the army I saw several early seperations for “failure to adapt” as much as a year after getting to a first duty station. Failure to adapt is usually used in basic or ait for those who just can’t, well, adapt to military life. It is very easy to get fired from the military even before your contract is up. Your irresponsible lazy fuck up won’t be allowed to remain in today’s military
Sort of my mentor was given the choice of juvenile detention or enlist in the mid-50s. He chose Army, went Warrant Officer, and did 30 years. Said it was the best decision he’d ever made.
Son-in-law was living in a bad part of a city; his friends (local gang) were getting into drugs; shootings started so he enlisted. Figured he do his time while the neighborhood cooled down. He’s just out of Sargent Major academy (E-9); fully intends to be Command Sargent Major before he gets out. He said more than a few times that he might be dead right now with out that move.