Eightbore, I don't understand how you were prevented from owning a car. You certainly would have been required to prove legal ownership (registration) of the car and minimum liability insurance but that standard would have been consistent with the state's civilian laws. And today most all states have a law requiring certain insurance to operate a vehicle. I agree that going to the Provost Marshal's vehicle inspection and registration process was a pain in the butt. Pay has always been miserable and will probably always be. Congress doesn't see the military as having an effective vote and finds it quite convenient to effect savings on military pay as a result. The junior enlisted grades were especially strapped - but they were draftees, provided room and board. The voluntary moves off post were certainly a problem for them unless someone else was helping them with money. I remember spending a disproportionate amount of my days trying to take care of the problems which arose with those who acquired families while still in the junior categories. Congress felt these were not supposed to bring along dependents as that entailed great cost for the supporting structure required. Have to remember about 2/3ds were juniors and were only minimally trained before their first enlistment expired. We were expected to be at least as much surrogate parents for these young people as their unit commanders and that was a very heavy load when you had 400 or 500 reckless, inventive, and generally rebellious youngmen with too much time on their hands. You had to love them but darned if they didn't bring tears of frustration more often than laughter.
