Just how strong are our forces?

Question

There was a surge of American pride after the 9/11 attacks. After which many Americans enlisted to protect our country. My question is: After September 2009, when a lot of these 8 year contracts start coming to an end, are our armed forces going to suffer in numbers? I'm sure many will remain enlisted and retire from their military careers, but do you think the number of those who do not will hurt us? Also, do you think that anyone enlisting now should take into consideration being stop lossed 8 years from now when their contracts end?

Answer 1

Most enlistments are for 4 years, so the rotation that you are referring to has already happened.

No, the military did not suffer from it. There were plenty of people that decided that they like the military and stayed in and plenty more that signed up.  Another factor to consider is that the military needs more workers than managers, so we do not want everyone to re-enlist.

In fact, in the Navy it is harder to stay in than it is to come in initially.

Recruitment numbers have been good, so there is no worry about personnel shortages.

Despite what the movies tell you, Stop-loss is very rare and effects very few people when it does happen.

I'm active duty and I don't know of anyone that has ever been stop-lost or are afraid of it happening. It's kind of like being scared of being hit by lightning- sure it happens, but it is so rare that there is no point in being scared of it.