Before I was in the army I had to get a job, I had to make sure I paid the bills. While I was in the army I had to make sure I kept my nose clean, did my job, did it well, earned the respect of my superiors and my peers in order to continue gaining a paycheque so I could pay the bills. I think that mentality should continue on after your career with the military as well. Nothing should change there.
However, despite the fact that us guys decide to volunteer, yes, we sign up, we go to do a job around the world and it's pretty heart-wrenching stuff that we see, when we sign on that dotted line I think the expectation is that we're going to be cared for after the fact, regardless of whether everything works out well or if someone is injured really catastrophically such as myself or others like me. I think bottom line is that we just want to make sure we're cared for and taken care of for the time ever after for the sacrifices that we did make.