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...)