Prime minister Gordon Brown has announced new retention incentives for the armed forces.
He has pledged to pay increased commitment bonuses of up to £15,000 to longer-serving personnel and start a £20 million home purchase fund to respond to demand for more affordable home ownership.
In his National Security Strategy Statement, Brown said: "I want to pay tribute to Britain's servicemen and women, who every day face danger doing vital work in the service of our country.
"To raise recruitment and improve retention, we will match our new £2 million public information recruitment campaign launched this week with the government's first ever cross-departmental strategy for supporting our service personnel, their families and veterans."