No really I give his second Sec Nav the credit actually. About the time he took over was when things started getting fixed. There is something you didn't see. The breakdown of discipline that occured. If you didn't like what the divison officer of chief said in 1977 you said so long and went AWOL for 31 days and got your discharge usually without so much as a day in the brig. I can think of about 5 of my high school classmates who did just that. Like I said I was active duty then and saw the actual changes begin. I also remember when I got there PO1's with 16 years vested were calling it quits.
When I got out I was offered $15K and next rank. I was recommended for retention and my chief tried his best as I was in a critical rating. MM's did 6 and 2 sea/shore duty rotations. In 1982 when the recession hit I tried to go back in and the billets were full. No problem I had the full GI Bill and went to a state voc tech instead. BTW Reagan as good a POTUS as he was in re-building the military provided no funding for it. That is the job of congress as set forth in the Constitution. He did lead the congress around on a ring though.
It was rampant in 1971-72 as the drawdown from Vietnam continued along with demobilization that reduced the size of the military rapidly and significantly.