Word: problems
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Dates: during 1980-1980
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...does only the U.S., of all the industrial nations, seem plagued with a serious military manpower problem? It could be because just about only the U.S. relies solely on volunteers for its armed forces. For the young men of every other major West European nation except Britain and Ireland, receiving a letter of "greetings" from the local equivalent of their draft board is a fact of life. There are several reasons for this. Most West European countries have a history of conscription, at lease in the 20th century. Their leaders feel, moreover, that near universal military service equitably distributes...
...would have been assigned to sea duty in the next five years of his re-enlistment rather than just the next three. Moreover, he claims that the Navy is doing a poor job of instructing its personnel. "There is no on-the-job training," he says. "When a problem arises, they always go to the guy who already knows everything." Barns also resents the stiffening of regulations after the 1974 departure of Admiral Elmo Zumwalt as Chief of Naval Operations. Says Barns: "Zumwalt was great. For example, he allowed us to keep civilian clothes aboard ship. But now all that...
...getting harder to meet them." He worries about the new recruits ("They just can't hack it") and thinks the Air Force is losing too many skilled mechanics too fast, thereby burdening those who remain with the task of instructing trainees. The prescription for the whole problem, says Loman, is better pay. "They could cure the retention difficulty and be tougher on whom they let in." And maybe keep Sergeant Loman in a job he is not anxious to give...
Laird: The major manpower problem that we face is that those with the highest aptitude who are in their second, third and fourth terms of service are not staying in the military. And some of the poor performers are staying...
...them is pay, the other is job satisfaction. This satisfaction has to do with a whole gamut of things, such as where the person works, the working conditions, how much he can look forward to in terms of a stable kind of life. A major problem is that we have a very turbulent Army today because of U.S. overseas commitments. Personnel are constantly being transferred. In comparison, the West German army is tremendously stable. Its troops are all stationed on their own soil and in units closest to where they live...