Capt Pit Bull - the numbers of servicemen only look good when you include the regular reserve, many of whom have been out for five years or more. Take them out and the numbers have halved in 25 years.
Look at the huge closures of military bases - the RAF has withdrawn to about a quarter of the bases it had 25 years ago, most of the county army presences have been closed and the RN is in just Portsmouth and Plymouth, as well as Culdrose and Yeovilton. The military are no longer part of daily life for many people in the way it was a generation ago.