Since 1989, the year that Reagan left office, the figures have fallen off, for some demographic groups drastically. To put it bluntly, the all-volunteer force is running out of volunteers. Determined always to protect arrangements it has grown comfortable with, the Pentagon reacts instinctively to any threat to those arrangements by calling for more resources. It's the economy, stupid. So the latest defense budget includes a military pay hike that the administration describes as the biggest in a generation.
Plans call for improving retirement benefits by restoring an earlier, more generous system.
The Navy, meanwhile, has hired Spike Lee to produce a series of TV spots. Pentagon surveys indicate that the propensity of women to serve, although less than that of men, has held steady since the end of the Cold War. Women remain a relatively untapped market. Yet such concerns are by no means limited to women. One unforeseen consequence of eliminating the draft has been to create a military that is married with children.