In your experience, what's the most frequent reason you see people join the military for?

I guess there's certain benefits? Like paying for school and stuff... I really don't know. I guess that would fall under financial reasons.

If you go into a technical field, you'll come back to the civilian world with an impressive resume and a foot-in to a lot of high paying jobs.

That's why I joined.

@plageus900: that's the main reason I've noticed too, it's not in the poll.

A friend of mine has joined the military and has already attained his class 1 HGV licence and dangerous chemicals (ADR) licence.

So when he leaves he's in a good position for a high paying job.

This is just one example, I guess it would come under financial reasons, however there's more too it than that.

The majority of people I've come across who went into the armed forces... I'd say they did so because their family members have, and it's sort of a tradition thing that they already hold and view as being an important part of who they are.

GI Bill for education.

I didn't vote because this is likely why most join and you didn't have that option. It's why I went in.

financial reasons

which makes sense, I mean, it is a job. It has some nice perks if you're young and broke, too.

It's not just a job -- it is security. The military can't just fire you, you sign a contract for 4 or 6 years (for enlisted that is). The military can just let you go if you're an officer (kinda)

Financial is a leading reason, it seems.

You would be allowed to expedite your US citizenship in the military. It gets even easier if you get your supervisor and commanding officer involved in the process. I remember helping out one sharp troop get his citizenship.

Financial. You have a job. Money for education. No worries over medical care.

Many join to qualify for the GI Bill. Others join to get into a career field they like. Still others join so they can go places.

Some people also don't know what to do with their lives. So, they join to get out of the status quo. Some like it. Some don't. But, at least they get a taste of what it's like to not leech off their parents anymore and having some responsibilities.

In most instances, kids are forced to grow up when they join.

We're on the verge of a major conflict with North Korea not to mention the other conflicts we've been involved with over the past 15 years. North Korea is no push over like Iraq. General Matis said if we go to war with them it would be the bloodiest conflict in a generation. You sure you want to join the military? just wait to be drafted.

I joined academy because I wanted to be a soldier and defend my country. I guess it's different when you're 12.

From my personal experience, this is what I've seen the most. I once had a boss with two sons that both went into the military.

I never dealt with someone with an F1 Student Visa. Perhaps, you should inquire to see if you can change your F1 Visa status to a permanent resident/resident alien, especially if you've been living in the US for 10 years.

If I was in your place, I would have inquired about it long ago.

The people I know who joined never had a lot going on in their lives.

The few people that I've known that joined the military didn't really have anything going for them in their lives. Almost all were just high school educated/drop-out, and they didn't want to work crap jobs the rest of their lives.

Depends on whether you're talking about someone from Arkansas or New York, enlisted or commissioned or fighter pilots or grunts. Most people I've encountered in my 7 years military service have varying reason why they join and often times different reasons why they stay or leave. But as far as American military is concerned I think the most common (I wouldn't say it's a majority) reason for joining is being part of something greater than themselves.

Most of the people I knew who went into the military went in for financial reasons. Right when my friends and I were 18-20 the economy was collapsing. Living in the south didn't help anything, so everyone was already poor. Most of them have done really well for themselves when they otherwise wouldn't have had much of an opportunity to improve their lives.

I knew only one person who went in just to kill people. It was 2003 and he was a friend of a friend. I overheard him talking about how much he wanted to assault, kill, and burn everything in the middle east. To this day it still disturbs me the way he talked about it. He was there about 2 months before being shot and killed because he disobeyed commands. :S Not shocked considering this was the same dude who bragged about hurting/beating women regularly ...can't say I am torn up about his death.

Pretty much financial reasons. To pay for school and such. Or an opportunity to get out the hole they seem stuck in after high school.

Majority of them who joined from my HS, already left the service at this point.