Not a jerk, just naive as we all once were. You gotta remember he was 17 when all this happened. I think he genuinely wants to help but her does remind me a little of volunteer firefighters. He seems to want the prestige and acknowledgement of being someone people look up to. Also being a part of a group viewed as heroic and selfless. Nothing wrong with that though, that used to be a common desire for young men until it was beaten out of them by the (((programming))).