Pros
The United States Military is a great place to start a career, especially if you aren't sure what your goals in life are. As an engineer there are a wide variety of experience opportunities across the United States, and you are given access to education, assignments and mentorship that help you determine what your passions really are. Healthcare, education, fitness and support benefits are the quantifiable highlights of life in the military. The chance to be part of a larger "family", support profoundly far-reaching missions, and develop the social and professional skills to be successful in all stations of life are some of the unspoken gems of service. The United States military gives people opportunities to experience unique environments and situations that effect a shift in perspective about the world-at-large.
Cons
Frequent shuffling of personnel can lead to leadership rollercoasters. Amidst an abundant pool of candidates for key leadership and command positions there exists a large segment of personnel with questionable leadership potential. The path to leadership has become extremely self-serving, to such an extent that a majority of work time, and even personal time, is expected to be spent walking through a laundry list of activities that have been deemed "essential" for promotion eligibility. In a time when the military has been cutting personnel for nearly a decade, and expecting those left to continue to do their jobs, the jobs of those who were cut, and even more as requirements continue to grow. Job stress becomes extremely common. Some units become worked to the point where there is no longer any "family" feeling or even feigned wingmanship. Senior leaders have decided to combat this declining morale by implementing mandatory training on how to be good "wingman", how to respect people, how to prevent suicide, and how to love yourself for who you are; these additional requirement eat even more of the precious little time people have to do what is described as their primary duties and further increases unit stress.