Word: nunn
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...military as a distinct group within society; Melvin Laird, 57, who as Secretary of Defense from 1969 to 1973 led the fight for the all-volunteer force, and is now the Washington-based senior counsellor on national and international affairs for the Reader's Digest; Senator Sam Nunn, 41, the Georgia Democrat who is chairman of the Committee on Armed Services' Subcommittee on Manpower and Personnel and has become widely respected as one of Capitol Hill's most articulate defense analysts; Lieutenant General Glenn Otis, 51, the Army's Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations...
...Nunn: If you talk to the chief petty officers and sergeants and ask them about quality, they will tell you very quickly, Mel, that the quality deterioration is so severe that their ability to discipline, their ability to train, are greatly eroded...
...Nunn: Although it wasn't picked up by the media, our military commanders both in NATO and in Korea have testified this year on the record before the Subcommittee on Manpower and Personnel that they are noticing a definite inability of an increasing number of their people to retain their training. This means that you must retrain often, which has a huge impact on costs and readiness. We are losing the confidence of our allies. Talk to some West Germans off the record and ask them what they think of the U.S. ability to fight...
...Nunn: One important factor is the pay ratio between the sergeants and the people at the beginning levels. It used to be that a top sergeant made two or three times as much as the lowest ranks. Now he makes only about 50% or 60% more. That has eroded the rewards for a military career and the sense of authority of your sergeants and chief petty officers...
...Nunn: The authority of the sergeants and chief petty officers is being eroded. Officers today are charged with getting people to reenlist. Because of this, the officers are not backing up their top noncoms when they crack down on the troops -because the crackdowns hurt re-enlistment rates. When you talk to sergeants out there, the lack of discipline and the lack of being backed up when they try to instill discipline are things they bring up repeatedly...