A caller on MPR just questioned the conventional wisdom that a volunteer army is really more motivated than an army that was filled by other means (meaning, I assume, the draft).

He said that he thought that most people who joined up had limited options and/or were joining up for benefits that they would receive after their term of service, and were not really motivated by their patriotism.

I know three people who have joined the military post-nine-eleven, and two who were in before.

One of them joined due to patriotism, believed in the war, and specifically believed in the mission in Iraq.  He put his life on hold, and put his ass on the line for what he believed, and he has my undying respect because of it.

One is a former active duty person who originally joined for patriotic reasons because he believed in the mission of the military in general, and still does.  He is not in favor of the war in Iraq, but is re-activating to meet an active duty milestone to achieve better retirement benefits.  Though he was not in favor of going in to Iraq in the first place, and even though his primary motivation for re-activating is financial, he is absolutely committed to finishing the mission and getting the job done so we can leave.  He's always had my respect, but it's double now.

One is a young kid who is absolutely star-struck by the Marines.  I don't know his position on the politics of the Iraq war, but my sense is that he is committed to the military objective of defending the country independent of whether the Iraq war is right or not.  Once again, hats off.  He's a fine young man.  His foster father's pride is well-placed.

I know two national guardsman who had joined before 9/11.

One is in Iraq, a patriot who wanted to defend his country and do good work.  He also liked the extra money for his family.  He served in Bosnia with pride, and did his best because he thought it was a good thing to do.  He appears to be luke-warm on Iraq, but chose to go despite the fact that he could have gotten out of it.  He didn't want to let his unit go without him.  He's committed to his unit, his country, and the larger mission of the military.  He's a good man and his family's pride is well placed.

The other is not in Iraq as far as I know.  I don't know where he is deployed.  He's been balls-to-the-wall National Guard for as long as I know, and most likely always will be.  He was kind of annoying when we were growing up (maybe too much like a brother), but wherever he is, I wish him well and I'm proud of him.

Just from my personal impressions from the interactions I've had and things friends and family have told me about these guys, I would say that, anecdotaly anyway, you can't make that sort of characterization about the intentions and motivations of military personnel.