Discipline can be learned, and it must be practiced. Thats the findings of a recent Department of Defense study of whether kids who graduated from alternative high schools, or were home schooled, did as well in military service as graduates from traditional high schools. Turns out that the home schooled and alternative high school students did not last in the service as well as high school grads. One thing you learn by finishing traditional high school, is how to get along in a group, a discipline yourself to get things done in a group, and to persevere as a group. 

In fact, kids who spent four years in high school, but did not pass all their final exams, did better. The Pentagon did not release the percentage differences, but is advising recruiters to take these factors into account when deciding which prospective recruits to spend their time on. 

A disproportionate number of children, whose father or mother are in the military, are home schooled. It is not known if these kids, who are regularly exposed to military people, were a large enough part of the study sample to show if they, too, had problems completing their military service.