Pentagon Study: US Military Should Improve Pay, Housing

The US military must spend billions of dollars to improve pay and housing for troops and scrap the traditional requirement for at least 20 years in uniform to receive retirement pay, a Pentagon-sponsored study said Wednesday.

There was a declining desire among young Americans to serve in the military and the armed forces were losing a recruiting battle with the private sector, the study warned.

Retired Navy Admiral David Jeremiah, who headed the study, told reporters that the study made more than 60 recommendations to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Rumsfeld is conducting broad reviews of strategy, weapons and quality of life issues aimed at transforming the Cold-War U.S. military into a modern force for the 21st century.

Jeremiah, a former vice chairman of the military Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the rule calling for at least 20 years of service to receive retirement pay was a half-century old and needed to be changed along with the requirement that officers either be promoted on a regular basis or forced to leave the service.

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