As one private military company (PMC) guy put it: "why go to iraq for 4 years and make 200k, when you can go for 2 years and make 400k...anyone that was any good in the military ISN'T in the military anymore..."
Basically you can do the same work but as a contractor and make more. AND you can still do it for the U.S. government in service of your country, it's something to think about. In 2003 there was one PMC for every 10 troops, and now there's more PMC than troops fighting in the middle east for the U.S. Eventually global powers won't be countries, but corporations. Those Blackwater guys in Iraq made a killing lol.