From a bit by Doug Mohney at Strategy Page today, on the post-service earnings costs of military service, and something you aren't likely to see in the MSM until Michael Moore decides he can use it to counter recruiting pitches...

...Results are similar when looking at the post-Vietnam all-volunteer force from 1976 through 1980. Applications for military service were compared to applicants who didn't serve, but had the same education and test scores.

White veterans earned about 5 percent less than their non-veteran counterparts when they came out of the service and it took about 10 years for them to catch up with their peers. However, nonwhite veterans earned almost 10 percent more when leaving the military and the pay advantage persisted for at least a decade afterwards. [emphasis mine] Researchers speculate that military service helps nonwhite vets to partially overcome discrimination in the labor market while military service amounts to a loss of civilian work experience for white veterans. – Doug Mohney

You can read the whole thing (which discusses costs of service in several eras) by going here.