(Blue) Water Retention

More on declining American morale:

Despite the demands of the war on terror, the U.S. Navy broke retention records for the third year in a row in 2003. Retention is getting sailors to re-enlist when their time is up. For 2003, 60.8 percent of the sailors on their first enlistment stayed in, while 76.5 percent of those with 6-10 years service stayed in and 87.4 percent of those with 10-14 years service did so. For the 28th month in a row, recruiters were able to raise standards for new recruits (high school diploma, college and other studies, physical condition and test scores).

Most interesting is that last item. Despite the war, recruiters are doing well enough to raise standards, rather than lower them.