TR, I understand where you are coming from when you talk about turbulence outside of the military, but we must remember that a lot of that is down to personal choice. Yes people are staying in jobs for less time; however, civilians are able to choose when they move and also pick another job within a reasonable commuting distance, thereby managing their children's education that way.
In this current climate of manpower reductions, it probably suits to keep eroding at the 'perks' of the job to see if they can convince a few more people to leave of their own accord without having to make them redundant. I just wonder what they are going to do to maintain the status quo of age and experience once they have achieved their aims...