I am generally in agreement with Kathies Dettwyler and Auerbach on this (not
really bf related) subject, but wanted to point out also (for nonUS readers
and others) that in the United States there are 50 different state
jurisdictions and eleven federal ones; so there is a lot of variability in who
serves, how easy it is to be excused from duty, how frequently one does or
does not serve, etc etc.   It's a big country, and there a lot of views of it
that can be simultaneously correct even if apparently contradictory.

Milder than ranting really, Elisheva Urbas
(married to the legal system, uh, I mean, to a lawyer...)