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This article examines five aspects of the retired military community. First, because of ongoing reductions of U.S. forces, the retiree population is growing rapidly; it will number about 1.9 million members by the year 2000. Second, military retirement costs will reach $38.40 billion and amount to 15-17% of defense outlays by the end of the decade. Third, the end of the Cold War and concern about the federal deficit have weakened political support for retiree entitlements. As a result, military retirees can expect an erosion of benefits over the remainder of this decade-despite improved representational strategies by the retiree associations. Fourth, recent military retirees are encountering delays in obtaining civilian employment; in response, they have become more willing to accept less attractive or less remunerative positions. Finally, California, Florida, Texas, and other sunbelt states are attractive retirement locales. Access to a military facility, however, remains an important element in residence decisions.

Examines their demographic makeup, employment and income, residence patterns, political activity, and cost to the defense budget.

This article examines officer recruiting policies in the U. S. armed forces during the 1970s and assesses recruiting prospects in the 1980s. Incremental policy adjustments in ROTC and other accession programs enabled the services to meet quantitative goals during the past decade. Officer accessions improved in quality, and the services refined procedures in recruitment of minority and female officers. Expansion of the ROTC scholarship programs is expected to provide further gains in quality during the 1980s. The officer recruiting system does not display any pronounced bias toward any geographic regions. Further, the major recruiting source, ROTC, is firmly based at civilian educational institutions of average and above-average quality.

Three wars have dominated world events in recent years: The conflict which erupted between the United Kingdom and Argentina over the Falkland/Malvinas Islands; the multinational conflict in Lebanon involving Irsaeli, Syrian, and FLO forces in Lebanon; and the savage struggles between ground and air units of the Iranian and Iraqi forces. The scale and intensity of these wars, their potential for global conflict, make them crucial for an understanding among citizens in general, and defense and political analysts in particular.The authors and contributors to this most unusual volume come to several common conclusions: professionalism is a crucial factor in military effectiveness, but not necessarily dependent on modes of recruitment; high technology is crucial, but only in relation to the quality and training of the personnel; public support is necessary to sustain military morale in democratic and authoritarian regimes alike. These are only some of the incisive findings registered and explored in The Regionalization of Warfare.The volume a'ssembles experts not only on these three major regional and interregional conflicts, but on current U.S. defense policies; Soviet strategic interests in Middle East and Persian Gulf conflicts; and a series of papers on lessons learned and unlearned as a result of these "small wars" of the early 1980s. For those interested in military history, global strategy, and regional rivalries, this -collection of finely written, sophisticated papers will prove to be of intense concern.