We are seeing an improvement in our at-sea manning. We are guardedly optimistic that these manning trend levels will continue to improve. Nonetheless, the propensity to join the military has stabilized at a historically low level. Unemployment is at record low levels, the youth population remains stable, and college attendance is increasing. The Navy, like the Air Force and Army, is facing the same extraordinary recruiting challenges, as each continues to compete against the other for the same candidate pool.
Retention continues to be problematic.
Although we are seeing some recent improvement, retention rates in all categories remain below our steady state targets. Although Navy met end strength requirements, FY99 ended with the lowest enlisted retention in twenty years. These first steps will be key towards addressing our recruiting and retention problems. The Congress also authorized a thrift savings plan for our military members, with implementation contingent upon offsets in the mandatory spending side of the budget to compensate for the lost tax revenues that would result. That issue is yet to be resolved.