FOLLOW-UP STUDY OF THE PERFORMANCE OF ARMY RECRUITS IN THEIR FIRST TOUR,
Abstract
A follow-up study was conducted on the first-tour performance of 8,000 Army recruits who had been intensively studied in Basic Combat Training at Fort Ord, California in 1961. Performance was measured by data from Army administrative records: (a) ineligibility to reenlist; (b) a composite score reflecting terminal pay grade, and bonus and penalty points for other recorded factors. For both volunteers and draftees, satisfactory first-tour performance was reliably and positively related to age, education, GT Aptitude Area, BCT proficiency test performance, and evaluation by fellow trainees in the BCT platoon. Men low on these variables were two to three times as likely to be ineligible to reenlist. This study concludes that (a) it is the older, better-educated, higher-aptitude men-categories whose early response to the Army is least favorable-whose service is evaluated most highly by the Army during their typical single tour of duty; and (b) standard Army administrative data could be used effectively to predict or evaluate how changes in recruit selection and training affect first-tour performance. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1968
- Accession Number
- AD0668844
Entities
People
- Howard H. Mcfann
- John S. Caylor
Organizations
- George Washington University