The words "material" and "personnel" are abstractions, but the weapons systems and the devoted human beings organized to make and use them are real. Reducing the size of the military also means ending jobs and forcing career changes on many people who deserve better from their nation. However, it has become apparent that many of today's military members separate voluntarily. This research project seeks to inform the debate on military retention by examining the evidence for separations from military service into civilian community. The objective is to identify what factors have the most weight in separation decisions, as well as the factors that have the most weight for those deciding not to separate from the service.

Over the past year, members of the armed services have been separating at an alarming rate. In an effort to combat the mass exodus of people from the uniformed ranks, the government has turned to the use of re-enlistment and extension bonuses, increased pay, and numerous other incentives, but has had little success.

A common response from people leaving the armed forces is that the decision to

Poor Leadership is another popular dissatisfying aspect of being in the military. Just like any organization, you are going to have a few managers/leaders that are not very popular among employees. In the military, managers or leaders are appointed differently than in traditional civilian organizations. Supervisors or leaders are appointed according to rank. For example, if somebody is newly appointed to your section and he or she is the highest- ranking person there, they are usually the ones in charge of the section. For this reason, you might get a good leader that knows how to treat people and take care of business, or you might get the "micro-managing" leader that is just looking out for him/herself in order to get a promotion or favorable evaluation. This type of leadership is found in every position throughout the military. It can range from one's immediate supervisor, to shop chief, flight chief, section commander, squadron commander and so on.

The opportunity to further one's education and to travel fulfills the need for self-esteem. Ever since the Gulf War, the public's opinion of those in the military has risen significantly in the favorable direction. All of these contribute to positive feelings by military members and help satisfy the need for self-esteem.

On January 5, 1999, at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael E. Ryan called for an additional $30 billion more in Air Force spending dedicated to the readiness program over the next five years. This was in addition to the President's already proposed injection of $110 billion into the Pentagon's budget for the readiness program to boost mission capability rates. The service chiefs also urged Congress to press ahead with the President's previously announced FY 2000 overall 4.4 percent pay raises, additional targeted pay raises for mid-grade officers and noncommissioned officers and restoration of retirement benefits to 50 percent of base pay for 20 years of service. This confirms to current and potential members of the military that programs are in place to upgrade overall qualities of the military life.

Military personnel are tired of being deployed for months at a time with very little notice and also want benefits and retirements enhanced and secured. Although compensation was not the leading factor in decisions to leave the military, there is a significant gap between military and civilian compensation that needs to be addressed, as this will aid in recruitment and retention. Government budget cutbacks are also a problem, not only for reasons such as personnel benefits and retirements; for example, the Air Force alone has a $5 billion shortfall in their budget for spare-parts. This makes it very difficult to accomplish and build a world-class Air Force for the future, and lowers the morale of its members.

The results of the survey can be found in Appendix B. While the total number of surveys collected represents less than one tenth of one percent of the total number of people currently on active duty, it does provide some useful data in terms of why there is a growing amount of dissatisfaction among military members.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Poor Leadership, Air Force, Growing Abstract, Accounting Office, Sergeants Association, Gulf War, Federal Government, Southwest Asia, Command AMC, PSMC PSMC, air force, quality life, quality life issues, military service, life issues, family separation, military retention, civil servants, 1999 february, base pay, military personnel, air combat command, office personnel management, air force 1999, 1999 february 18,
Approximate Word count = 5021
Approximate Pages = 20 (250 words per page double spaced)