He is currently serving as a Cornet in the Blues and Royals regiment of the British Army's Household Cavalry, like his younger brother, Prince Harry. Within his regiment, he is known as Cornet William Wales.

[...]

Like many of his predecessors, Prince William has chosen to serve in the Armed Forces. On 15 December 2006, Prince William graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS). The passing out parade was attended by the Queen and Prince Charles, along with other members of the Royal Family and Kate Middleton, Prince William's then girlfriend. Prince William officially received his commission as a 2nd Lieutenant at a midnight ceremony on 15 December 2006. Following the announcement in September, Prince William followed his younger brother into the Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons) as a troop leader. Prince William will now spend four months at Bovington Camp in Dorset, training to become a troop commander in an armoured reconnaissance unit.

Prince William and Prince Harry have both indicated that they would be prepared to undertake active service. Given his position in the succession and the reluctance of previous British governments to allow the heir to the throne to be put into dangerous situations, it remains to be seen if this wish will be fully realised. However, Major General Sebastian Roberts, general officer commanding the Household Division, indicated it was possible that the prince could be deployed to a conflict zone. There seems to be further proof as Prince Harry is scheduled to be deployed to Iraq in May of 2007.

Unlike Prince Harry, who will continue as a career soldier, Prince William will go on to spend time with both the RAF and the Royal Navy to prepare him for his future role. He will also increasingly carry out public engagements in parallel to his military career.

Slightly off topic but also interesting:

Under an Order-in-Council in 1960, the non-titled descendants of Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh were given the surname Mountbatten-Windsor, combining the surnames of Elizabeth and Philip. However, although titled, the Queen's children have all decided to use the surname also in honour of their father. For their banns for their first marriages, both William's aunt, Anne, Princess Royal and his own father, Charles, Prince of Wales, used Mountbatten-Windsor rather than Windsor. Mountbatten-Windsor is now officially treated as being the surname of all descendants of the Queen and the Duke except those, like the children of the Princess Royal, who have a new paternal surname (in that case, "Phillips").

As with Royal Family tradition, Prince William used "Wales" as a last name during his years of education, as has Prince Harry. William's York cousins in turn use "York" (other Royal Families also use their parents' title as their own working surname). Past precedent, however, is that such title-surnames are dropped from usage in adulthood, with either title alone or name and Mountbatten-Windsor being used on legal documents and banns of marriage.

Given that both are uniformed officers and, thus, adults whether they're ready or not, I'm curious as to why they're both using "Wales" rather than "Mountbatten-Windsor."

Harry is the younger of the two princes.

True.

William's already done his service after graduating from Sandhurst.

False. Harry entered the academy first. William will graduate later this year.

(OK, several spellings)

Nobility is not just filling tabloids. Nobility is not celebrity.

Bush already handed Al-Queda the great victory, the day he went into Iraq. Anything else would just be icing on the cake for Bin Laden.

It is to Harry's credit that he does not want special treatment. Good for him.

At any rate, here's hoping he's always wearing some kind of tracking device. If you know he's going to be kidnapped, may as well make the most of it right?

Furthermore, if they send Harry now, they'll have to send William later when he graduates from Sandhurst. It sounds like a foolish gamble to me.

He's second in line to the throne. It's going to be impossible to keep his location a secret. Either he can be an infantry lieutenant or not.

I realize it's a tough call but I'm curious about what other factors are in the decision. Keeping in mind this type of war is very different than the Falklands or WWII.