Quote Originally Posted by Umar Al-Mokhtār View Post
The personnel issue really is an issue. One thing that hurts the military as a whole are dependents, or more accurately the ever increasing size of them. I don’t mean that pejoratively, I mean it in the practical sense.
Ahhh, shades of "if the Corps wanted you to have a family, it would've issued you one!" From my experience, this is a theory that has gained traction. I get a number of calls from non-USAF personnel and their dependents (I won't say which branch) in search of help because their own command/base support structure, etc. is either nonexistent or doesn't care. It's a shame really. A number of these folks have expressed a desire to get out after their hitch. I wonder how many good folks we lose because of this?

The simple fact is that recruiting and retention have been difficult, especially in light of the ongoing war. If you want a large pool to pull good people from you need to take married folks. And if you want those folks to stay in, you'll need to address those family concerns.