text: this is very shocking! i can't believe this but here it is. what do you think? approximately 9,400 deserted from the four main branches of the military during fiscal year 2005. that's less than 1 percent of the 1, 371,280 men and women on active duty that year. but it's also about 2-1/2 times as many as deserted five years earlier, when the total was about 3,800. ///// so i ask all here. why so many people desert the military? note:...those that are counted as deserting are those who stay away over 30 days from their unit. the wave of patriotism that swept the nation after 9/11 was a double-edged sword.  if someone who was already leaning toward military service decided to enlist, that may have been the reason.  but the ads for the services tend to focus on the "glamour" and not all the truly grunt work that most enlistees endure.  for every pilot, there are countless, faceless others.  i believe if a more realistic picture were painted, only the truly devoted would sign up, therefore reducing desertion.