Issue Date: September 20, 2004

Fewer soldiers want to stay in uniform, survey says

By Vince Crawley
Times staff writer

Troops work longer hours and deploy more often than in the recent past, but a Pentagon survey taken during the height of last autumn’s Iraq insurgency still showed high morale and increased satisfaction with military life.

One key exception: Army soldiers, bearing the brunt of the Iraq campaign, showed declining desire to remain in uniform compared with a July 2002 survey, taken during the lull between the Afghanistan and Iraq invasions.

An increasing number of troops — 35 percent — also said their spouses or “significant others” want them to leave active duty.

But overall, half of all service members reported being “satisfied with the military way of life,” and another 12 percent said they were “very satisfied.”

Results of the active-duty survey were markedly different from the findings of a survey of reservists, taken in May, which showed widespread declining morale in reserve units, regardless of whether they were mobilized.

Findings of the Status of Forces Survey, administered in November 2003 by the Defense Manpower Data Center, include:

• Overall, 62 percent of service members said they were satisfied “with the military way of life,” while 18 percent were not. The overall satisfaction rate was one percentage point higher than in the July 2002 survey. Last fall’s survey showed a slight decline in satisfaction among soldiers, with 56 percent saying they were satisfied and 24 percent saying they were not.

• Service members said they worked beyond their “normal duty day” an average of 111 days in the previous year, compared with 87 days in the 12 months before the July 2002 survey. Soldiers reported working long days most often, an average of 136. That figure is significantly higher than in 2002.

• All told, 57 percent of service members said they were “likely” or “very likely” to remain on active duty, versus 58 percent in 2002.

In 2002, 58 percent of soldiers said they were likely to stay on active duty. That number dropped to 50 percent in last fall’s survey. At the same time, 28 percent of soldiers in 2002 said they were unlikely to remain in uniform. That number has increased to 37 percent.

• In the 2002 survey, 28 percent of service members said their “spouse, girlfriend or boyfriend” was in favor of their leaving active duty. In the November 2003 survey, 35 percent said their spouse or “significant other” favored them leaving active duty.

Enlistment is at a high right now. As more people get in the filed I would imagine deployment will eventually go down. But we are all over the place right now so I am probably wrong....military guys what do you think??

How does that Army meet its retention goal quarter after quarter...

You can only be out in the field so long before you get burned out, war or peace.  But unless and until we replenish our manpower from the cuts of the 90s, this is what we got.

Quoted: Enlistment is at a high right now. As more people get in the filed I would imagine deployment will eventually go down. But we are all over the place right now so I am probably wrong....military guys what do you think??

Enlistment is up but you should see the amount of soldiers getting out. and THE STANDARDS HAVE BEEN LOWERED for new soldiers entering the army...

Quoted: Enlistment is up but you should see the amount of soldiers getting out. and THE STANDARDS HAVE BEEN LOWERED for new soldiers entering the army...

Having soldiers that aren't up to as high of a standard as 20 years ago is better than having fewer soldiers.

Enlistment is up but you should see the amount of soldiers getting out. and THE STANDARDS HAVE BEEN LOWERED for new soldiers entering the army...

Can I enter with asthma?  I have to take a pill every day, but would much like to go in as an officer now.

Quoted: Enlistment is at a high right now. As more people get in the filed I would imagine deployment will eventually go down. But we are all over the place right now so I am probably wrong....military guys what do you think??

I think that I knew everything I needed to when I saw 'Times' in the byline. This is nothing but THIS week's entry in the 'tell the Lie a 1000x' campaign by the LLLeft.
Enlistments are up.
RE-enlistments are at very high rates.
These are statements from the heads of the government agencies involved.
All the rest from LLLiberal media is cherry-picked crap, tailored to support their Defeatist agenda re US military action.

Quoted: and THE STANDARDS HAVE BEEN LOWERED for new soldiers entering the army...

Linkage please. Back that statement up.

Quoted: You can only be out in the field so long before you get burned out, war or peace.  But unless and until we replenish our manpower from the cuts of the 90s, this is what we got.

What he said

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Enlistment is at a high right now. As more people get in the filed I would imagine deployment will eventually go down. But we are all over the place right now so I am probably wrong....military guys what do you think?? Enlistment is up but you should see the amount of soldiers getting out. and THE STANDARDS HAVE BEEN LOWERED for new soldiers entering the army... How have the standards been lowered? in 1991 the standards were to be fit, and within weight standards, not have any felony convictions and be a high school graduate with a GT score of 80, I think. Edited to add: This is a pet peeve of mine. Since the dawn of time once a soldier gets out they decide that during the period that they served the troops were far better than any previous and since. When I got to my first units there were guys who had been in for three years going on about how easy basic was for us "young guys", and when I asked them how there basic was any different than mine, all they could manage was "because it was harder, the drills were tougher".

+1


Those that came before always whimper about how much easier the new guys have it.

The problem is it will take some time to flush the free-college-no-war folks out of the Army right now...

Sorting the chaff from the wheat, so to speak....

Oh, and Clinton's manpower cuts don't help much either... Something about barely having enough troops to fight the Iraqi & Afghan campaigns...

Thanks Willy...

Oh well, i'm going to be adding to the 'incoming' side if I get accepted & make it in...

With me trying to go back into the military, I wonder how that would affect things.

I am supposing this is the New York Times, although it is not clarified.

Y'all don't think this might have some political purpose and that they might be lying???????????

Quoted: Edited to add: This is a pet peeve of mine. Since the dawn of time once a soldier gets out they decide that during the period that they served the troops were far better than any previous and since. When I got to my first units there were guys who had been in for three years going on about how easy basic was for us "young guys", and when I asked them how there basic was any different than mine, all they could manage was "because it was harder, the drills were tougher".

We ARE seeing some issues with some of the newer guys, at least on the Guard side. Some of it may be the programs they are bringing people into the Guard with, there have been some definite changes in the training that goes on during basic over the past few years, and things like the consolidation of the 11 series just doesn't make any sense for those of us who were  previously considered 11H, because we are now getting guys back from OSUT basic who have been getting nothing more than lip service paid to getting any sort of training in what used to be MOS-specific training that they could use at the unit.

Oh well.....we are being reorg'd as MPs this fall. Be interesting to see the complaining from some of the "lder" guys you mention  when the new guys no longer go to Benning, and we start getting females in the unit in positions other than clerks and REMF's.

It is from the Army Times.
http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-ARMYPAPER-345549.php

According to some people it's nothing but a left-wing propaganda rag, to others it's a source of information that you don't get unless you subscribe.

The current retention information provided is located at www.dmdc.osd.mil/surveys, however, it's behind a password firewall.

You can go to the US Army web site and get news on current retention goals.

Army hits retention mark - July 19th, 2004
http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/read.php?story_id_key=6167

Army on track to meet recruiting, retention goals - May 26th, 2004
http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/read.php?story_id_key=5997

Quoted: I am supposing this is the New York Times, although it is not clarified. Y'all don't think this might have some political purpose and that they might be lying???????????

I tried to go back into the military and was told to take a hike.  Don't know if that means they have enough but I doubt it.  A lot of the recruiters offices near the malls are empty when a few years ago they always had high school kids looking for work.  Not good around here, and my cousins are leaving after 4 years, reason, they hate iraq.  Most do, or there wives tell them they do.