Yes, in short answer. That is exactly what would. The military knows it, too, which is why the allow foreigners and illegal immigrants to serve as it’s a back door to citizenship. We just don’t have enough people signing up so they have to get these programs in place.
I’m not saying it doesn’t help young people out of poverty and teach skills, which it does. But there might be a better way. In the mid nineties after the collapse of the Soviet Union I was sent by the US government deep in to what had been only a handful of years before, Siberia. I had no gun and went with no troop. I confronted the natives there for two years face to face, no backup security officer within a thousand miles and a thirty hour plane ride. It was as cold and freezing as you imagine in the dark winter. I was a volunteer in the Peace Corps and taught at a university to people who had never seen any foreigner. No gun, no back up. I’m convinced to this day I did more for peace, mutual understanding, and affecting the lives of many individuals more than the military does.