However, the lack of a bachelor’s degree (or other relevant education or skills, such as in the skilled trades) conveys less than it used to.
My good friend went into the service straight from high school. He left the service and became a law enforcement officer while continuing to serve in the reserves. He’s a youngster at 42 years old but he already has a military pension waiting in the wings and he’ll be able to retire from the police force at 51 if he chooses to. He makes about $250,000 per year.
Re: #21
Police officer is a skilled job that does require its own education and training (at least if you want good police officers). It also requires being willing to deal with unpleasant people (actual criminals, people annoyed because of a crime or some other condition or the police themselves, people trying to cause the police to unwittingly do something for their political cause, etc.) and people for whom the police officer is the default social worker (homeless people, people with mental health problems who are not otherwise being effectively treated for them).