I hold military personnel, firefighters, police officers etc. in higher esteem, than, for example, most lawyers or accountants. Nothing against those professions, but volunteering to put your life on the line for your job and dedicating yourself to something larger than yourself counts extra for me.
And one other reason that you should as well is because most don’t do it for the pay. I don’t know a single Marine who joined because of pay, or even for the college money. They join out of love for this country and a desire to serve. And in battle, they fight because of that as well and that’s why your idea of oursourcing the force will never work.
One guy I know went to Harvard and joined. Another had a undergrad degree from Harvard and law degree from Stanford. Do you think they joined because it was the ‘best job for the best pay”? You can make more working at Wal Mart than you can as a private in the Marines.