ARLINGTON, Va., Sept. 14 (UPI) -- A new book salutes the all-volunteer U.S. military as an overwhelming success but warns of an unprecedented challenge in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"I Want You! The Evolution of the All-Volunteer Force," a RAND Corporation book by Bernard Rostker, says the volunteer military has emerged as the world's strongest fighting force with smarter, better skilled recruits than those of the draft days, and one more resilient than expected.
Re-enlistments, Rostker says, "have remained high, sustaining the overall size of the force."
But, for the first time since the late 1970s, recruiting is down. That's blamed largely on four years of war with mounting casualties in Iraq and continuing insurgency attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan.
