Steve, I remember how China treated the Australian's when they didn't agree with their politics, it was in the news, something about the lobsters stuck while in transport and I'll bet many other products. I do remember hitting port I think at the very tip of Australia and the ship next to us was filled up with cows, thousands of cows being exported.
Fred, I had nothing going in Grand Forks North Dakota, my job was waiting tables during the daytime at a fancy mall foodie spot and then at night making tacos and grinders, so the military sure ended up giving me a much brighter future and I never thought about the pension or when I'd retire I was only 21 years old.
Anyway while I served over the years I noticed many of the younger guys or women getting kicked out had no clue either, they didn't take their career seriously, they still partied hard and took drugs, some who did take their job seriously, they were happy working in the military but also got caught on a urine test with drugs in their system, wow what a wasted career and some where mid level enlisted members. Before I entered the military I was made aware that the military frequently tests your urine for drugs and they did this as you applied so there's no excuse for continuing to do drugs, so if there's an issue with recruit, it's a career with a pension wow... I think it's due to the stigma of the military pushed onto high school students and the actual truth is that they take care of you, it's a Government job.