"Most of my contemporaries in the '50s finished school,then served. I don't recall it stunting any careers."

You realize that a limited sample from 60 years ago does not, and cannot, be used to draw any conclusions? For example, the 50's and 60's were brilliant, productive, heady times in the US for theoretical physics, material sciences, synthetic chemistry and fundamental biology. The US simply dominated the world in basic and applied science in that period. How many of your contemporaries were leaders in those fields? How many of the leaders in those fields served in the military before going on with their education and training. Of all of the scientist making breakthroughs at that time that I can recall (and it is many), the answer is zero. And I bet the number remains close to zero for all the ones I can't recall.

Ironically, the entire current military, not to mention the US and world economies, are built on the advances in the above fields during the above period.

I am not being anti-military or downplaying the importance of a strong military. I am arguing against the view of forcing everyone to serve in the military as a way to get them to contribute to their country. Our country can only be great when it allows people to fully reach their potential - and forced service WILL stunt some people's potential or even hide their potential from them.

Mark