By the mid-1980s, as Ronald Reagan embarked on his second term, the military buildup launched at the outset of the decade was beginning to show results. Increasingly reassured, the Joint Chiefs believed that they had turned the corner and were now better poised to compete effectively in military power with the Soviet Union than at any time since the Vietnam War. Despite the re-imposition of congressionally mandated funding constraints, starting with the FY86 budget, they saw the balance of forces shifting back in their favor. As always, the JCS wanted more to be done than available money allowed and urged the President and Congress to be, if nothing else, consistent in their level of support for military programs. Yet, all things considered, the buildup seemed to be having the desired effect of restoring both a stronger defense posture and a renewed respect for the country’s Armed Forces. Not since the early 1950s had the Nation’s Military Establishment felt so assured.