When you enlist, you could be in the war for the duration of the war plus six months. This war has been described as our grandchildren's war. So never mind them saying you are in for two years (when in peacetime it would be an eight year total commitment of active and reserve duty)

I did not trust the military based on my reading and TV of Vietnam.

Actually, it isn't the military's fault. You just have to be educated about what the military is. A recruiter could put a spin on things.

We've made a mess of the regular Army, Army reserves, and National Guard (state level militia mostly for natural disasters) trying to make a volunteer Army and militia function beyond its limits just to keep most people's kids safe from a draft.

Ironically, the only thing that is going to fix the manpower problem is a draft (or some brilliant inspiration to return to isolationism). Even drafting a few 18 to 25 year old men could help a lot.