The Military under past Administrations?

[CJackson]

I read of how bad things were under Carter, and of how good things were under Reagan, and of how things seemingly changed overnight for the military once Reagan took office.

What was so bad about the military during Carter's presidency?

What was so good about the military during Reagan's two terms in office?

Also, was there any sort of significant decline in military size or spending once George H.W. Bush took office?

[Rifleman]

I read of how bad things were under Carter, and of how good things were under Reagan, and of how things seemingly changed overnight for the military once Reagan took office.

What was so bad about the military during Carter's presidency?

What was so good about the military during Reagan's two terms in office?

Also, was there any sort of significant decline in military size or spending once George H.W. Bush took office?

Well, I'll give you the short of it.

When Carter was President the U.S. Military was suffering from the Vietnam hangover..not real sure what the hell happened last night, don't know what to do today and sure as heck ain't gonna answer the phone. And that also described the whole Country.

When Regan got in we, the U.S., suddenly had a mission, defeat the commies. And we are gonna spend a **** load of money doing it. At the time we were, to the rest of the world, lazy, stupid Americans.

When Bush 1 gets in the military spending takes a stand down from the cold war spending but...Gulf War 1 shows the world we lazy Americans had been up to something. Gizmos, Gadgets, Widgets, stealth, smart bombs, computers and all sorts of technology.

Simply put, during the 70's the military was looked down on. In the 80's it was "ok" to be in the military. In the 90's a person could serve with pride.

Just my .02

[Ordie]

From the Navy side:

Carter: 12% payraise, beards, salt & pepper uniforms, lots of dopey sailors (Stoned)

Reagan: 600 ship Navy, lot's of money, training, waste and knuckehead sailors.(Petty Criminals, Join or Jail)

Bush Sr.: Last Cold War WestPac Crusies, plenty of port-o-calls, 6 month deployment, 12 months in-port. Decommisioning of key bases, Smarter sailors (Smart enough to never get caught)

Clinton: Govt. missed a paycheck on drill weekend. We decided to play golf instead. Reservist started to pull more active duty assignments. Geeky sailors (Can't hold thier drink, who would rather spend time at an internet cafe than a dive)

[Merfeller]

From the perspective of a civilian living on Rhein Main AB for 21 years and four presidents, just gauging the general feel of the place and listening to Air Force and Army buddies complain/praise:

Carter: base has a definite mission, lots of Vietnam era squadrons rotated in from Japan are sent back to the States, base becomes a full time MAC base, base housing is substandard, place looks a bit run down and dreary. No one is really complaining though.

Reagan: Base gets a major face lift, buildings modernized, AAFES gets much better stuff, lots of C9, C130, C141, and C5s on the flightline all hours of the day, morale is pretty high in spite of RAF bombing and annoying German protesters outside the gates. Everybody seems to have a well defined job and liking it.

Bush 41: Base is teeming with guys being deployed to Desert Storm/Shield, lots of Army personnel coming in from various V Corps posts in the area, I make a ****load of money tending bar in the Rocket Sports Lounge:), by '92 the drawdown begins, base foot print changes announced, lots of planes rotated to Andrews AFB

Clinton: More planes go until none are left, lots of idle airmen and uncertainty, base foot print is decreased twice, several support organizations leave the base, MWR/Non-appropriated funds operations are dramatically decreased to the point where the base becomes boring as hell, AAFES facilities moved to on central location and cut, first talk of permanent closure of base rumored by 2005

Bush 43: Base footprint is tiny, run with skeleton crew, all operations move to Ramstein, base closes in December 2005

[CJackson]

To pose a more general question: under which administration, from the first to the forty-third, did the military as a whole fare best?

[gaijinsamurai]

Speaking for myself (I served 1985-1991 and 1997-2002), morale seemed best during administration of George Bush Sr.