BUSH TELLS TROOPS THEY DESERVE RAISE.

Byline: Staff and Wire Services

WASHINGTON - President Bush is reassuring U.S. troops he intends to bolster what he sees as sagging military morale, carrying a promise of pay raises directly to the field.

The new commander in chief toured Fort Stewart near Savannah, Ga., on Monday, where he announced that he will seek $1.4 billion to improve pay and living standards, plus $4.3 billion to improved housing and health care.

``You deserve a military that treats you and your families with respect,'' Bush told the soldiers. ``And America needs a military where our best and brightest are proud to serve, and proud to stay.''

Accompanying him to the base was a delegation of top administration officials and lawmakers, including Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, five senators and six House members.

Bush reviewed the Army base's barracks and troops in his first such meeting with members of the military since he took office Jan. 20.

During his election campaign, he made it clear that he believed morale in the armed services was on the decline, and he promised to address the factors he said caused it: poor housing and pay, equipment shortages and unfocused, overextended missions.

Bush, devoting his fourth week in office to national security, prefaced it with a pledge to improve conditions for those who serve.

``They deserve the best training, the latest and best equipment, and long-overdue improvements in their pay, housing and standard of living,'' Bush said in his weekly radio address Saturday.

Bush told the Fort Stewart troops his proposed 2002 budget will call for $5.7 billion in new spending on military personnel: $1.4 billion for pay increases, $400 million to improve military housing and $3.9 billion to improve military health benefits.

The requests are for the budget year that will begin Oct. 1.

At Edwards Air Force Base, officials say quality-of-life concerns are getting more attention as a healthy job market lures away airmen. Recent improvements at Edwards include new houses with central heating and air conditioning, dorms that provide privacy and a renovated base club.

A $10.6 million, 136-person dormitory that opened in 1998 is built to a new Air Force standard in which two airmen share a kitchenette and a bathroom, while each has a private bedroom. A second dormitory is planned for 2004.

On the base, 381 houses - many built in the 1950s - have been renovated, and 160 new ones built.

About 2,900 enlisted personnel and 540 officers now serve at Edwards. A staff sergeant - a rank reached after six or eight years - makes about $1,800 a month. Senior noncommissioned officers, who usually have served at least 20 years, make $2,800 to $3,600 a month.

A captain with eight years in the military makes about $3,800 a month; a major with 12 years, about $4,600 a month.

Bush dispatched Rumsfeld to the Sunday television news shows to spread the message in advance of Monday's trip. Rumsfeld is conducting a force-structure review of the Pentagon, and the administration will rely on results in setting defense-spending priorities.

``I think the focus has to be on quality of life for the people,'' Rumsfeld said on the ``Fox News Sunday'' show. ``Without the men and women that we're able to attract and retain to man the forces, then we really don't have a national defense, so that has to be the first focus.''

Rumsfeld also told ABC's ``This Week'' that he remains convinced a defense budget increase is necessary.

The visit to Georgia on Monday was the first of three trips Bush is making this week to military bases and the kickoff for a series of events emphasizing his role as a world leader.

Today he and Rumsfeld will head to the U.S. Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Va., a training hub. Bush will participate in an electronic battle exercise and emphasize the need to modernize the military.

Army Gen. Henry Shelton, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was expected to accompany the president and Rumsfeld to Norfolk, home port of the USS Cole, the target of last year's terrorist bombing in Yemen that killed 17 U.S. sailors.