I think that many young men join the armed forces with little idea what they are letting themselves in for.
The 'army life' is glamourised as a combination of world travel, cameraderie and adventure, when in reality it is offering your life to be used by your government.
When these young men realise that they are being used, not to protect their homeland, but to grab another country's natural resources, then the desertion rates go up.
BBC NEWS | UK | At least 1,000 UK soldiers desert