Hey Biggus,
thanks for the links...I read them both.
Leaving aside the contention over the statistics and that both sides have vested interests, I'll willingly agree that young soldiers leaving in their twenties after combat ops will be vulnerable to economic hardship and all that that entails (including crime). Why that should be a surprise to anyone would be a mystery to me...and much of it would be to do with their expectations and education before they joined up. Half a dozen years as an over worked, over exposed fighting soldier is not really going to add anything to their economic value when they leave is it?
I think this is red-herring (and therefore a troll by pr00ne) because...
It is specific to tradeless young soldiers, not the wider military (OK, somebody will find and exception, but you get my point).
And, the thread is about the value that quality that highly trained servicemen and women (ie most of us) bring to the commercial world...which is exactly in line with my experience.
Since we have dived down this rabbit hole, could I point out that casting aside ones fighting soldiers has been going since the Romans invented professional armies and is is hardly unique to the UK. Does not make it right though.