`  ==Marines== I thought this was off topic, so I'd post it here... I was in the Marines from 1989 to 1993. That was a bad time to be in the military. Active duty was being shut down and everything was being moved to the reserves. It quickly became a dog-eat-dog environment as every unit had to cut staff. I was in a MACS unit. There were 7 MACS units when I enlisted, but they were being cut to just 2 MACS units. I believe they cut down to 3: 2 active and 1 training. Not only that, but the size of each MACS was being reduced, cutting the enlisted ranks by 75% and moving the officers from full-time to reserves. Even with all of that, I tried to make the best of it. I planned to make a career. I went into the MECEP program and got 27 credit hours completed on my BS when I was hit by a drunk driver (with two driver's licenses suspended for DUI and driving a stolen, uninsured car - and he was still being promoted through the officer ranks). Due to the environment and my insistence that the officer who ran over me should be punished, I was quickly given a medical discharge. I figured I'd keep going to college, but I then found out that by starting MECEP, I canceled by enrollment in the GI bill and couldn't receive any money for college. I went to the VA for help and discovered that my medical discharge was written up as an ``honorable`` discharge, but they checked off every possible injury they could find so that there is no conceivable injury that I could ever sustain (even mental illness) that would be covered by the VA. Now, my general view of the military is very negative. I highly regret that I tried to make a life there and consider it the greatest mistake of my life. However, as you may have noticed, I try to express my extreme negativity with humor, not anger. Further, I do not sit and complain about the military every day. I did go to college. I have a PhD and I work as a college professor, with full medical/dental benefits.   `