Contractors do not live by the same constraints as active-duty soldiers.

The money comes directly out of the Pentagon's budget for active-duty soldiers.

In general, residents say the active-duty soldiers and National Guard troops had treated them well.

If he had been an active-duty soldier, he would have gotten more help in cutting through the red tape.

The sagging economy mostly affects the recruiting of active-duty soldiers.

Its 222-member staff is made up of 128 active-duty soldiers, both men and women, 27 career officers and 67 civilians working on contract.

But they also say they were desperate and would have welcomed assistance by active-duty soldiers.

The other four, all active-duty soldiers, were convicted through courts-martial.

More than 35,000 relatives of active-duty soldiers live in the area as well.

Pentagon officials estimate that about 85 percent of the 435,000 active-duty soldiers who served in the gulf are still in the military.