Just another gear in the war machine?

I mentioned to a friend at lunch today that I've been thinking about military chaplaincy as a potential future career and she asked the obvious question: "How does that square with your Buddhist beliefs?"

It's actually a really difficult question to answer because I'm not entirely sure. At a surface level it seems like being in the military, supporting even tacitly the "war machine", wouldn't be compatible with Right Livelihood. You really shouldn't be involved in work that leads directly to the deaths of beings and that's kind of the business of the military.

At the same time, isn't it a positive thing to pursue a profession in which you deal directly with the suffering of others? Isn't it part of Right Livelihood to get right into the thick of it, the muck of human experience, and help those who are unfortunate enough to have found themselves caught in a series of events that led them into that situation? I feel like we should feel compassion for those who felt like they had no other options but to join the military. We probably should feel even more compassion for those that enjoy the idea of killing and join the military to do so. Imagine the mountain of negative karma they're accruing.

Which isn't to say I don't have personal motives in considering military chaplaincy; it's not all compassion. The idea of retiring in twenty years with a good pension and benefits is incredibly attractive. I like that I could be retired by the time I'm fifty and have the rest of my life to dedicate to Dharma practice. Who knows, maybe I could even go into serious solitary retreat. Even if that's not the case and I have other responsibilities, a wife and children, I could still do a lot with that time. I could start a retreat center, travel, teach in my spare time, go back to school, do shorter solitary retreats, or at the very least just dedicate more time to Dharma practice.

I also think there's something to be said for the reasons an individual does something as more important than what happens incidentally. According to the Dharma, in order for karma to be complete there has to be intent behind the action; to my knowledge, incidental acts don't accrue karmic consequences. So, if my intent going in is to help individuals caught in that situation, shouldn't that override any unintentional support?

Ultimately, it doesn't really matter what I think. I've got years before I have to make this decision and when it comes time to make the decision, I'll ask my gurus what I should do and follow their advice. It's just an interesting question to kick around until then.