“We don’t need to pay for married junior NCOs with children, and we don’t need for them to travel to other countries. Sad facts of life.”
You don’t know much about the military or the all volunteer system, do you...
Actually, I do. And I also know military history. When there is a RIF, the married junior enlisted can be chosen as first to go, and there is no problem adding marriage as an exclusion for entry in the first place.
Much is dependent on a sour economy with many people wanting in, as well as cutbacks.
Other restrictions are on familial travel outside the US, as well as any perks or privileges given to military families.
Things change. Constitutionally, congress has wide latitude with the composition of the armed forces, despite what some federal judges think.