So who would want to pen their names on such a demanding contract?
Young people who face a stale economy, government layoffs, no jobs or poorly paying ones, out-of-reach house prices and university tuition that climbed 50 percent.
Young people like the ones who live in Hawaii.
Military recruitment is rising here and in the region. The increases - from 6 percent to 51 percent between 1995 and 1996 - bucks trends elsewhere and shows how attractive the military is in Hawaii these days.
"I can't go to college. It will take forever to save up. Getting a house or car of your own will take forever. Joining the Army gets my feet in the water."
Villanueva, recruited as a firing-director cannon specialist, wants to get out of the Army in three years and go to the University of Hawaii on the GI Bill, which provides between $15,000 and $30,000 for tuition.
New recruit Adam Arruda, 24, who graduated from Waianae High School, looks at the Army as a career.
"I was working from job to job. It just didn't work out," said Arruda, who will train as a light-wheel mechanic. "There aren't enough jobs here."
Military officials say using more skilled recruiters is a major reason for higher numbers. But they also say the economy is a factor.
"With the economy being the way it is - government layoffs, tuition going up - these kids aren't dummies," said Staff Sgt. Ted Roberson, Marine recruiting officer in Hawaii. "They're looking for ways to better themselves. They're more open to checking out opportunities."
In fiscal 1995, the Marines recruited 53 people in Hawaii on active duty. In fiscal 1996, that number rose to 80 - a 51 percent increase.
"The Marine Corps' reputation as just being macho man is changing. We do have technical training," Roberson said.
Other services saw increases as well. The Navy recruited 159 people in Hawaii in 1995, compared with 200 in 1996 - a 26 percent jump.
"When you're talking to the kids, if there's not a better option, they're going to say yes," said Senior Chief Petty Officer Jesse Kamekona, zone supervisor for Navy recruiting in the Pacific.
The U.S. Army Recruiting Company Honolulu did so well that it was named the top recruiting company of about 220 candidates in the United States. Active-duty recruits: 379 in 1995, compared with 403 last year, a 6 percent increase. Those numbers include other Pacific islands and areas in Asia, but not Alaska.
"People here are very receptive to the military and that helps a lot," said Company 1st Sgt. Steve Baasch, noting that recruitment is down in most other areas.
"There are places where they close the door to you when you're in uniform. Everybody here has grown up with the military."
Air Force recruits, including those from Guam, Samoa, other Pacific islands, Alaska and Americans in Asia, showed a 37 percent increase - from 265 in 1995 to 362 last year.
Air Force Tech Sgt. John Kincaid of the 369th Recruiting Squadron said increases in Hawaii and the region fly in the face of a 1995 joint-service study that said the propensity of people ages 18-27 to enlist has dropped. "Statistically the market group has shrunk," Kincaid said. "We have a captive audience here with many (military) dependents."
Recruiters said smaller cuts in Hawaii's military presence compared with that of other states may have improved numbers as well.
Baasch said fewer people are re-enlisting but instead are using an initial stint in the Army as a "stepping stone to a career, education and training."
Baasch emphasized that even though the military is shrinking overall, the need for first-time enlistees has risen. But entrance requirements also have toughened. Baasch estimated about 40 percent of candidates fail.
Arruda and Villanueva agreed that the tests were hard but just part of "being all they can be" in the Army.
And Villanueva thinks more young people here ought to be that way, too: "Tell the class of '97 to do it."