ABSTRACT
One might hypothesize that changing military manpower realities may be the single most critical and persistent issue impinging upon US policy in the 1980s and 1990s. This chapter focuses on an area that has received almost no attention, but may be equally important—the psychological dimension of attitudes toward military service. It provides a meeting of the National Security Affairs Institute of the National Defense University. The chapter describes a description of several broad social and environmental trends. It suggests that many of the dire circumstances can be reduced, especially if the growing public debate about military manpower reality continues. Of particular importance are the implications of advanced technology for the social organization of the military.27 From the author's Air Force perspective, one might argue that technology is the organizational essence of the Air Force, and this same phenomenon will increase in all of the services.
