MILITARY FEELING THE PINCH TOO

The same booming economy is having another consequence nationwide, and that is a manpower pinch in the armed services. The U.S. Navy is facing a shortfall of 7,000 sailors this year. This is the first for the Navy since the advent of the all-volunteer force 25 years ago. "It has been extremely difficult to recruit with the economy so strong," said Maj. Derek Kaufman, a spokesman for the Air Force recruiting service in San Antonio. "What's good for America isn't necessarily good for military recruiting."

The retention problem is especially acute among elite Navy and Air Force pilots. Both are struggling to keep flyers from leaving to take high-paying jobs with commercial airlines.

The economy and the availability of better-paying private sector jobs are doubtless major factors. We would suggest another. To say that President Clinton's stewardship as commander-in-chief hasn't been entirely reassuring is an understatement. It isn't just his history as a draft dodger, which the American people twice chose to overlook in electing him. It is his determination to expand America's military commitments to dubious foreign locales at the same time he is slashing the Pentagon budget to the bone that is truly worrisome.

How can all this not have major deleterious effects on morale among rank-and-file soldiers, sailors and airmen? We went through this, by the way, during the late 1970s, before the military buildup of the '80s. The next president will have his work cut out for him in restoring our military strength from a dangerous period of drift and neglect.