Defense Build up.
This includes a 9 percent increase for military health care and a 3.7 percent pay raise for personnel, the second pay raise in two years. In the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union, a reduction in military spending was advocated on a bipartisan basis. No one had a crystal ball that showed how U.S. military deploy- ments would increase over these years. Eventually, budget cutbacks and increased deployments led to shortages of equipment and weaponry, increased workloads, and eventually in lower recruitment and retention rates. Congress began to address the problems several years ago, and this rebuilding process has continued this year.