In Blighty PLC we now have a very flexible workforce of which HM Forces can be included, industries come and go, some stay around, some boom some bust - funny old thing your average young serviceman can re-train and get a job fairly successfully, on average in Blighty PLC/Village in the flexible market.
Very good post, Nostrinian. And I think that to take your thoughts further, and combine it with the recent Strategic Review of UK Reserve Forces, there is a case for encouraging even closer assimilation between civilian/reserves/military UK assets. Not only would it be healthy for democracy as a whole in the UK, but I think that the military could benefit if it were easier for servicemen to leave, get a taste of civvy life, realise it is not always that cushy, and rejoin, and arguably it would benefit the military if it were easier for some late-entry reserves/civvies to join the military ab-initio at a later cut off age than the current limits. Economic history shows again and again that no profession or industry benefits from a closed shop and restricted labour mobility.