One of the problems is that lower enlisted life was never properly adapted in terms of pay and benefits to the married life and family. It's bad enough for upper enlisted and even for officers, but it's unmitigated hell for lower enlisted. This has come about because the US transitioned from a military where draftees filled the lower enlisted ranks to a 'total professional force' without ever really thinking what that meant for people who tried to finish out a career of twenty years in the lowest part of the hierarchy. When the active service downsized after the Persian Gulf War, this put a lot more pressure on the lower enlisted who couldn't continue to make rank. Imagine if you had put 18 years in and were released from active service with just two years to go to get your pension. It happens.
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