i suppose my controversial opinions are in response to some ideas here.
all education, in any form, is a positive. how you go about it, and what you spend on it is up to you. they can never take an education from you. some education may not train you for a specific job, but you should learn critical thinking, other beliefs, exposure to new ideas,etc.
and i don't think everyone needs to serve in the military. i completely get the idea, but i was someone who didn't want to, didn't need to, and would not have gotten a single thing from it. in fact, going into the military would have held me back in life in terms of timing.