Buy a Used Car with High Interest Rates or Lease a Car (Monthly Payments)?

I'm in the process of becoming a warrant officer, which is expected to take about six months in the best-case scenario. I'm considering my options for transportation during this period and beyond. Should I buy a used car with a 10%-15% interest rate according to California CarMax, or should I lease a car for three years? I might be wrong on the interest rates, pretty sure I can find lower interest rate deals but damn it’s 2024 and everything is expensive lol.

I prefer to buy a used car, but I don't have enough money to pay in full. Leasing feels a bit silly to me. I'll be working while going through the warrant officer process, and my recruiter mentioned that I'll need to drive a significant distance for the pilot physical test, which takes about three hours. Assuming everything goes well with my GT scores on the ASVAB, passing the SIFT exam, etc., I'm torn between the two options.

Would you recommend monthly payments for a used car with high-interest rates, or leasing a car? I'm also concerned about the potential stress of maintaining a used car, especially since the average mileage on used cars (according to CarMax) is around 100k miles. What would you do in my situation? I'd appreciate your advice.