And as for Uni, it is the life experience, as much as the educational that is important. The 18-year-old DE boys and girls have a lot to learn, which the military isn't necessarily best suited to teach.
You need to remember that university is not the one size fits all solution that Noo Labour have brainwashed you into believing. The vast majority of the 18/19 y/o entrants I joined with in 78 were more than capable of getting in to university - bear in mind that about 65% of uni places are at what we knew then as polytechnics/colleges, and at best awarded a CNAA degree that had a much lower standing.
My father had been very much involved (in the MOD) with the 82 South Atlantic skirmish, as he was the last Captain of Endurance ashore. In the wash-up it was discovered that a lot of the dashing, good at writing joined up, graduate officers had not performed that well when the battle was raging, while those who were perceived as dull/ordinary had been able to keep on the task despite the pressure.