I joined when I was very young and uninformed. The idea was to be patriotic from a nationalism sense, not from a defense of liberty one as I have today. Unfortunately. the military back then even was not full of liberty lovers. It was full of "America, Eff Yeah!" types. It's even worse now from my perspective. We need to get back to a militia only and shut the standing army down.
I support the idea behind Virginia's Declaration of Rights:
Section 13. That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.
This reminds me of my pastor who joined the Marines right out of Highschool. Vietnam. He knew he made a mistake as soon as he got off the bus. He stuck it out, but you would not think of him as a typical ex-marine, semper-fi kind of guy. I also had a step brother who had the choice of jail or enlist Vietnam in 67. He was Airborne, fortunately he made it through.
I agree with your militia stand and glad you became a liberty lover.
SDG