My friend needs a change in his life what should he do?

AA First. After he is sober chances are he will find the motivation to again be the commander of his own destiny.

^So very, very agreed.

Sobriety, Peace Corps (2yr commitment but not as potentially dangerous as the armed services), his local Habitat For Humanity, community college orientations.

Well, I thought about the Army, and my dad said “Son, are you F-ing high?”. I thought, well, there’s a first for everything, so I took my old man’s advice. Three sad semesters, it was only 15k; I dropped about a joined a band instead. Grew a mustache, got a job at Chik-fil-a. Now, I nuke Grandma’s apple pie in shame.

i don’t know where anyone got the idea the army is 2 years. “Everyone who enters the all-volunteer military incurs a total service obligation of eight years, a portion of which is spent on active duty. For the remainder of this time, the enlistee can be called back into uniform at the government’s discretion under a program called stop-loss.

Even during this time of war, only about 10% of the total military force is actually in a combat situation. The rest are in support positions all over the world.

@Dog is correct. And I really like @hungryhungryhortence‘s suggestion.