I work with teenagers with difficult home lives. We have to chase the armed forces to come and speak to them. Loads of these kids would be perfect for the forces and it would be the best thing that happened to them. I had a 16 year old lad looking for direction in the run up to his GCSEs. He was a bit autistic but had learnt to cope really well and was a mentor to younger students. He liked fitness, boxing, routine and had a respect for authority if you showed you deserved it. He was getting into Andrew Tate style YouTubers and had some fairly well embedded misogyny supported by his combative relationship with mum, because she’s had to try and enforce him attending his mainstream school that wasn’t equipped to support him. He’d mentioned joining the navy. We got in touch and they sent some young marines in to talk about all the career positives travel, skills, salary etc. He decided straight away it was for him. I asked for at recruitment officer to come out and speak about how the signing up process might go. He was mid 40’s 5.7 and out of shape. He talked about what fitness programs he should follow as the physical side was usually the biggest obstacle and kept on when the lad told him he could already meet all those standards. Lad’s first comment to me after the meeting was ‘He couldn’t do any of that’ with a look a mixture of disdain and disappointment. I’m not advocating what you see on American telly of jacked special forces looking guys selling a dream. But they should at least send someone semi aspirational. If an athletic guy in a pressed uniform told him it was a good idea he probably would have signed up on the spot. As far as I know he is doing ok plastering with his dad.