Just because you are a vet or serving currently

[MA2]

The CNN article states that 16% dropped out, that does not mean they did not finish at all. They could have come back at a later date or received a GED. So that does not meant that 16% did not graduate at all.
Here is an article with more information about drop out rates. It is based on non-incarcerated 16-24 year olds. It shows an 8% rate of them not having a high school diploma or GED. That is a more accurate reflection of the amount of adults with at least a high school diploma or equivalency.
As far as your facts, when you present some valid facts, we will be happy to view them. Thus far you have provided your interpretation of information you got from Wikipedia and CNN.
You have basically stated your opinion which is fine and tried to back it up by taking information and trying to generalize it to the population as a whole. This never works as is the case here.

Here is the article from the Department of Education.
Indicator 19 (2010) Status Dropout Rates

Here is a more official article from the US Census Bureau. If you add up all the numbers of people with less than a high school education and divide by the total number of people, you get 14%, which is somewhat in the middle of the two data. This is also where I got the number of people with bachelor degrees.

US Army Info Site: Joining the Army

Enlisting with a GED
The Army is not accepting people with a GED in most areas of the country, however, the Army reserves the right to waive certain disqualifications and allow enlistment if deemed in the best interest of the individual and the service. If you will only need a waiver for the GED, it is highly likely that you will be accepted. Please note that when the Army did accept a GED, they were required to score at least 50 on the ASVAB.

So the Army for the most part isn't even taking people with GED's anymore, once again raising the average IQ level by keeping people out of "low intelligence" (not that everyone with a GED is stupid) ..and that's only the ENLISTED side of it, keep in mind 20% are officers.

Look at the ASVAB. The Army, which has the "lowest" standards, at least on the ASVAB, requires a score of 31 to enlist.
The ASVAB score is just a percentile which means the bottom 31% of applicants are disqualified right off the bat.

Edit: let's say for argument's sake it is in fact 8% of civilians that are HS dropouts with no GED. I couldn't find anything real official but about.com says the DOD average for enlistees in 2008 with a HS diploma was 92%... (your data of 8% was HS diploma and GED's, whereas this figure is just HS diplomas) + the amount that had a GED (5% ???) means roughly 3% now don't have a HS diploma. I would think even that number is too high since the recruiters are having to turn away perfectly qualified people because there are too many applicants.

And what about people with 4 year degrees? The military has a greater number of degree holders by percent. Yes it is true that our schooling is paid for and that is definitely a part of it, but the argument is "who is more intelligent on average" not "who had more opportunities and used them to go to school."