Soledad,


President Bush did indeed push for and get a larger military pay raise and got targeted pay raises through congress. Instead of everyone getting the same raise, the pay tables were altered so those with more responsibility got more money......It used to be when a soldier got promoted from PFC to Specialist it was the biggest raise they'd ever see. No change in duties or responsibilities, just more money. Now senior NCO's and Staff Sergeants are (almost ) getting paid in accordance to their responsibilities. The raises in the Bush administration have been about one percent higher than they had been in the previous decade. We have also seen far more money put into the training and ammunition funds. No longer do we have to worry about going over budget on mileage, which was a major concern in the '90s. (and yes, this began prior to 9/11).From 1992 to about 1999, the armor units were limited to 25 miles per month on a tracked vehicle because there were no maintenance spares available to fix the equipment if we went over that figure. . We can actually request and get ammunition for training, and the new COS of the Army is pushing a new training cycle that should make an impact across the board. I could go on for pages about changes in the military, but the point is that the military has vastly improved since the Bush administration was elected.