WW3 Anti-Hero

So the protagonist in my WW3/post apocalyptic story...
Not sure how he is as the main character, but here are some details.
Sam Tanner grew up in Denver during the build up to the war. He ran with a gang to make ends meet and was arrested during a bank robbery, told that he would either go to war or go to jail. So Sam decides to join the military, where he is sent to US Army basic training and later selected for a new Special Forces program known as Archangel. Sam makes it through all the training and becomes a member of the new unit, participating in several operations leading up to the actual war itself.
Sam is constantly torn, wanting to return To a life of freedom, to go AWOL and escape the sentence he was given. On the other hand he doesn't want to betray his brothers in the team and has a growing sense of purpose in the military compared to being a street criminal.
As the plot progresses and the world 'ends', Sam eventually becomes the hero of the story, traveling across ruined America in his adventures.

 

Going from basic training directly to spec ops seems extremely unrealistic. He'd surely need a few years in the field before being considered.

I'm also not sure how plausible his route into the military is. It's one thing to be offered the choice after a few petty misdemeanours but after being caught as part of a bank robbery? I just don't see it.

 

I should've clarified the situation of the world at this point, the USA is extremely militarized and desperate for soldiers. The draft has been enacted, the economy nearly in shambles from years of rampant military spending. Sam pours his heart and soul into training and is selected by the liaison when he shows up. (I went through Army basic and a SF liaison actually did show up and give contracts to those with the highest pt scores, though this only gives them the chance to attend selection, not join the SF).
But the point is that the country is so militarized that they will take almost anyone at this point now that war with the Red Banner seems inevitable.

 

Is there a specific question you want answered?

 

I'm just curious if he makes for ajust interesting character, especially as the protagonist

 

I'm confused. How can they spend so much on the military that they'd ruin the economy yet at the same time be so desperate that they'd take anyone? Didn't any of that money go to personnel? a man would never jump from basic to special forces in those circumstances, because the military wouldn't be short...of anything. They could afford to have him go through the proper order of progression because of all the overspending.

 

So, the past is backstory and the actual story starts in the middle of the war, yes? I'm assuming. If so, the logistics of the story can be hidden in the fact that they are just stories that he tells about his past to the people around him - then errors in chronology, and the bits missing, are just bits the protagonist doesn't talk about, that's fine.

And the story of your protagonist is a story of 'having to sacrifice one way of life for another', where he is presented with two different paths that he could take - and they sometimes gel - sometimes split apart - until a final personal crisis at the end of his journey - where he has to choose between the two different lives, sacrificing one for the other? To be the hero, sacrificing the escape, or to escape, sacrificing the hero. Is this right?

If so, then yes. It is a strong enough protagonist to carry the story, especially if all of his decisions are choices between these two aspects of his personality.

 

Yeah, that's how they did it for us as well, a Ranger and a Green Beret came about halfway through basic and offered the best privates to attend their selection programs