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Military dependents --- Families of military personnel --- Military Administration --- Military & Naval Science --- Law, Politics & Government --- Dependents of military personnel --- Military families --- Dependents --- Soldiers --- Housing

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This monograph examines the relationship between recruiting practices and conditions and the first-term success of Army soldiers. Success in the first term is important to the Army because recruiting soldiers is expensive. If soldiers fail to complete their first terms, the Army must recruit others to replace them, effectively doubling the cost. Given the expense of recruiting, the Army should reassess whether some management strategies could improve the success rates for first-term soldiers. Events in a soldier's first term that show a statistically significant relation to early loss include length of time in the Delayed Entry Program, gender (women have consistently higher rates of attrition at each stage of the first enlistment), and education (soldiers without high school diplomas drop out at an increased rate beginning with advanced individual training). Attrition can also vary depending on the training installation, but high loss rates during basic training have no effect on subsequent attrition. Thus, it does not appear that applying higher standards in basic training reduces subsequent attrition in the enlistment cohort. All other things being equal, soldiers in combat arms have higher attrition rates than do those in other occupations. Finally, promotion correlates positively with retention. Equally interesting are the influences that do not appear to make a major difference. These include participation in the Army College Fund, term of enlistment, the recruiting environment, and characteristics of recruiters. Recommendations include shorter time in the Delayed Entry Program for high school seniors, a revisiting of the fitness training unit concept, and imposition of consistent training standards and policies. The monograph also recommends exploring policies to help at-risk demographic groups such as women and recruits who hold GEDs, as well as a review of the promotion program to ensure that the most able soldiers are getting promoted.

United States. --- Recruiting, enlistment, etc.

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Analyzes the influence of preservice experiences and initial military job match on military attrition of first-term enlisted males during their first six months of service (early attrition). The dynamics of attrition behavior are examined in terms of recent firm-specific human capital and job matching models. The determinants of early attrition are compared across services and with those of civilian job separations of young workers. Some of the conclusions drawn are: enlistees with a history of frequent civilian job changes or a recent spell of unemployment are attrition-prone; aspects of the initial military occupational assignment like individual suitability and satisfaction do not significantly influence early attrition; the early attrition rate of nonhigh-school graduates is nearly twice that of graduates even after controlling for previous work experiences, aptitude, and other variables that influence attrition; and older recruits are more attrition-prone than younger recruits.

United States --- United States --- Armed Forces --- Recruiting, enlistment, etc. --- Armed Forces --- Appointments and retirements.

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This report describes the enlistment effects of the 2+2+4 recruiting experiment. The 2+2+4 program is a new Army recruiting incentive aimed at attracting high-quality personnel into the active Army and encouraging their later participation in the reserves. The program offers qualified recruits an additional option, beyond the normal set of enlistment benefits and choices: they may receive the Army College Fund (ACF) if they enter an eligible specialty for a two-year term of active service, provided that they agree to serve an additional two-year term in the Selected Reserve. This program was tested in a national experiment from July 1989 through September 1990.

Veterans --- Scholarships, fellowships, etc. --- United States. --- Recruiting, enlistment, etc. --- Reserves.

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This report examines the long-term effects of an experimental Army program that links active and reserve tours. The program, called the "2+2+4 recruiting option," allows new entrants to serve a two-year tour in the Active Component (AC), a two-year tour in a Selected Reserve Component (RC) unit, and then four years in the Individual Ready Reserve. RAND designed the new enlistment option and evaluated the program in a congressionally mandated, controlled experiment. An earlier study showed that the program expanded the market for high-quality enlistees and helped staff hard-to-fill Army occupations. This study shows that 2+2+4 participants are more likely to complete their AC tour and join a RC unit than are other high-quality recruits. Program participants had lower first-term attrition and reenlistment rates than other high-quality recruits, so the program increased the pool of soldiers separating from the AC and available to the RC. In addition, the RC affiliation rate was 80 percent for 2+2+4 participants, as compared with only 43 percent for other recruits. The study concludes that the program helps the AC achieve its recruiting objectives and that it channels trained, experienced personnel into the RC.

United States. --- United States. --- Recruiting, enlistment, etc. --- Reserves.