Agree with Rolling20,
I left in 2000 because the whole armed forces seemed to be in a downward spiral which even big commitments to conflicts in the middle east haven't managed to stop. All the services exemplify the phrase "managed decline", with senior officers falling over themselves to justify more cuts efficiencies. Beating the drum for something fewer and fewer people believe in, and why should they? From the outside it is so obvious how it has been going for the last 20 years and the whole thing just comes across as a tiny little 'niche industry' with ever-diminishing opportunities. Fair enough, they don't want to spend money on bigger forces, but then shouldn't wonder why it is on so few people's radar, whatever their colour.