ABSTRACT
The foreign retirement locations of American military retiree migrants are not ones of random selection, but the result of choice based on previous exposure to foreign areas or information about those areas accumulated during active military service. Interaction among the components in this concept is accomplished through the transfer of information. Since 1900 American military forces have been involved in four major wars and numerous expeditions, interventions, and small wars encompassing a major portion of the globe. The wind-down and conclusion of the Vietnam War reduced armed forces strengths to near post-Korean War levels. The most important element of the military population, especially in terms of ultimately producing military retirees, is that group of tenured career military personnel who serve for 20 to 30 years, or longer, in the active ranks of the armed forces. In terms of significant numbers involved and long period commitments, however, there is no other society/group that equals those of the career military establishment.
