The dregs ...

Now a qualifier. At 17, I enlisted in the Air Force by the order of a judge. He saw some potential in a punk kid standing before him in handcuffs, arrested the night before for stealing a car and joyriding the shit out of it. I thank Judge Corso (I'll never forget his name) for it.

That said, I have a problem with waivers for criminal behavior being more the norm than the exception.

WASHINGTON - Faced with higher recruiting goals, the Pentagon is quietly looking for ways to make it easier for people with minor criminal records to join the military, The Associated Press has learned.

...

Overall, about three in every 10 recruits must get a waiver, according to Pentagon statistics obtained by AP, and about two-thirds of those approved in recent years have been for criminal behavior. Some recruits must get more than one waiver to cover things ranging from any criminal record, to health problems such as asthma or flat feet, to low aptitude scores — and even for some tattoos.

...

While I'm sure a lot of kids will 'grow up', as I did, I can't help thinking this will become a problem the same way it was in Vietnam.