I've decided.....

[Pandajuice]

My best friend joined the army about 5 years ago and he loved it. He was an engineer and always came home with really great stories and wide eyes. He didn't mind doing a tour in Iraq either and his favourite story is the one in which he was nearly killed by insurgents while defending a bridge. He was always obsessed with tactical RTS games and Warhammer 40k so I think he just got off on being in a "real" battle.

Having said that, I'd recommend against joining the army, at least right now. You don't want to get sent to Iraq and put in harm's way for no reason. You're not defending America over there and you won't even know why you're there. Unless you're an armchair general like my buddy, I don't think you'll enjoy it.

The army is really good for people who have nowhere else to go, no opportunities, or no direction as to a career. It lets you try out a bunch of different disciplines on the government's dime and as you said, discharges you with a nice pension. But if you already have aspirations to go to college, then do that. You can always join later if college doesn't work out and Iraq is out of the picture.