Songfacts®:

• This 40-second punk rocker is a sardonic take on life as a soldier - an M-16 was the standard issue gun in the American military at the time. Descendents lead singer Milo Aukerman wrote it about his high-school friend who was going to the West Point military academy to become an Army officer. "I'm pretty much a peacenik and not really into that," Aukerman told Songfacts.
• Descendents' bass player Tony Lombardo wrote the music, with Milo Aukerman adding the lyric. It was the first song Aukerman had a hand in writing; his other contribution to the Milo Goes To College album was "Hope," which he wrote on his own.
• Milo Goes To College is a landmark album for '80s punk. Their songs were fast and loud but had more of a pop sensibility than much of what was coming out of the scene. The album also has a distinctive look, showing a sketch of Milo, making him their de facto mascot.