Quoted from too-many-pins:

I am not a parent of either a "problem child" or a parent of a child in the military but him joining the military might have been exactly what he needed to do to save his life. Instead of "worrying" about him if I was in your shoes I would be proud of him for stepping up and serving our country.
One thing I think most people forget is we here about almost every service member that doesn't make it home and while is do feel for their families I think being in the military is actually safer than walking down a city street at night in most cases. Statistically someone is probably safer serving in the military then they are just living in a "bad" neighborhood in a bigger town or city. And it might even be safer than driving to work this morning. Nothing in life comes without risk but I would be more concerned for your son's safety if you posted he just signed up for the police force.
Best of luck to you and your family. You boy made his choice and all you can do as a parent is support him. If something bad should happen you need to remember it was his choice and never blame yourself. But my feeling is him serving might change his life for the positive. Just remember if he had not joined he could have gotten involved with something far worst. Think positive and all should be OK.

Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

Is he being deployed overseas? Then I can certainly understand being a little worried - otherwise i basically agree with Skip - there are many many positives that can come from the structure and consistency that being in the service can bring. I'm struggling not to write anything political here, but let me saY this: I work daily with service people who have similar stories to your son(being a "problem child, etc) and they are the finest people I know, and they deserve our respect.