Would you contribute to a 401k or TSP without employer matching?

[Andrey Y.]

This question is for military and non-military. I have recently started a traditional 401k with a small chunk of my W-2 income contributing. I am active duty military, so there won't be an employer match. I (most likely) will not be staying in 20-30 years, so I sort of feel like this money is just uselessly sitting in the account, maybe it will grow, maybe not. But if I leave the military in 5-10 years, the amount in the 401k won't be high enough to matter, plus I cannot access it (apart from the self-loan feature which may or may not be available when you are no longer active), until age 60 or so.