Military child care has not always been a model system. The services were inconsistent, many programs had serious deficiencies thus were failing to meet basic health and safety standards, and caregivers were poorly trained and poorly paid. However, in the late 1980's, the Government Accounting Office exposed the seriousness of the situation. Congress responded by passing the Military Child Care Act (MCCA) of 1989, which recognized the need to develop a system that would promote development and well-being of children of military families. In addition, the MCCA calls for standardizing the training and compensation of caregivers, upgrading the quality of the curriculum, increasing the number of scope of program inspection conducted on an unannounced basis, and making fees affordable. In this article, the author believes that the military child care system--which recognizes that children need good day care. He also believes that such care cannot be provided without a sound structure, which recognizes that the skills and compensation of a child's caregiver is central to their development. The author argues that this model should be replicated and funded in every state.