Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-10380701-20150808021719/@comment-410526-20150810084640

73.Anon.52 wrote: Personally, I'm of the opinion that Atlas has a military somewhat like China's in that everyone has mandatory military duty at some point, yet only some stay on full time... this would explain the seeming military discipline from those hailing from Atlas, the quasi-militaristic garb of those characters hailing from it, and the Atlesian impulse to remove the "human" element from the battlefield(as they are then protecting their children). Atlas having a conscript army does sound like a distinct possibility. Maybe those eligible have a choice to go for Huntsman/Huntress training instead of entering the military, which would be another reason why Weiss decided to enrol in Beacon. Perhaps Winter chose the other option.

That said, I find it equally likely that Atlas has a professional all-volunteer force. With all the robots and things, it's not like they have a lack of manpower.

Also, just a side note, China doesn't actually have national service or conscription (they do by law, but it's not enforced in practice as it is in Israel, for example).