As a veteran, let me put some of my thoughts. Always, do what you want to do but do your best what you do. I was in the same boat 5 yrs before. Some of my friend who did not made Mavini were bragging that foreigner were admitted to send directly to fight in frontlines and bla bla. I had a college degree in technology field too. I could have easily gone to Dhoti or Nepalese consultancy, get trained for 3 months and got a job (~60K/yr). But, I always wanted to join military for lifetime experience, benefits, and easy access to citizenship. I never let my degree go in trash during my military time. I finished my graduate degree (Oh yeah !! It was free) in IT while I was in military and received few IT certifications through military sponsor. I was up to date what was going in IT industry. Four year went so fast. Couple months before I got out, I had three mid level permanent full time job offer in my hand. By the way pay in military (salary+allowance+benefit) is more than what dhoti consultancy pay. Good luck !!!!