The poll finds solid majorities ranking their pay and allowances, health care, training and job satisfaction as at least fair, if not excellent. But nearly eight out of 10 said the nation's military is stretched too thin to be effective.

That figure, outside observers say, should spark second thoughts for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other administration officials who have resisted calls for more military manpower. And it's likely to add to calls from defense experts, retired officers and politicians for an increase in military end strength.

Seventy-seven percent of those polled agreed with the notion that the military is stretched too thin to be effective; 14 percent disagreed. Although the Army is widely seen as most stressed by the demands of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, soldiers were only slightly more likely than members of other services to ask for more troops.

In follow-up interviews, some troops said they don't believe manpower stress is hurting combat effectiveness, but nearly all said it's wearing people down.

Ignoring such sentiments carries great risk, said author and retired Army officer Ralph Peters.

"The people at DoD should take that number into consideration, but they won't," Peters said. "Rumsfeld ... doesn't give a damn about the troops being away from their families or anything else. He just wants to pour more money into Lockheed Martin."

Indeed, the Pentagon's top personnel official said he doesn't believe the poll is cause for concern.

"I'm not surprised, given the political rhetoric back home, that a significant number of people would like to see more forces," said David S.C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. "That doesn't necessarily make it a good idea. Because what they don't have to confront, which is what the secretary does have to confront is, at the expense of what?"

That attitude from the Defense Department threatens to undermine progress made on pay and benefits issues, and the high morale and dedication to duty the Military Times poll found, said David Segal, a military sociologist at the University of Maryland.

"We may well break the all-volunteer force," Segal said.

He and other experts contrasted the plea for manpower help with other, generally upbeat morale indicators, which Chu said mirror internal surveys showing increasing satisfaction with the material rewards of service:

• Nine of 10 respondents rated their military quality of life as at least fair; one of three said it was excellent.

• About eight in 10 respondents rated their pay and allowances and their military health care as excellent or fair.

• More than nine of 10 consider themselves well-trained for their jobs.

• More than eight in 10 were at least somewhat satisfied with their jobs, a figure roughly equal to similar polls of the general population.

• Three of four said they would choose to continue their military career if forced to decide today. Those who would stay cited patriotism, pension and job security as top reasons. Experts said the makeup of the poll's respondents -- much older, more experienced and career-oriented than the military as a whole -- likely influenced those numbers.

• Of those living in military housing, nearly two of three ranked it at least fair; 19 percent said it was poor or very poor.

-- Gordon Trowbridge