Retention of First and Second Class Petty Officers in the U.S. Coast Guard

Abstract

This research paper attempts to isolate the causes of the high rate of turnover amongst first and second class petty officers in the Coast Guard. Coast Guardsmen stationed in San Francisco and in the south Texas area, from a large variety of units and occupational specialties, provide input to this research effort. Questionnaires and interviews are used as the survey technique to obtain information from first and second class petty officers. Two-hundred and sixty-four petty officers responded to the questionnaire and thirty-three from San Francisco were interviewed by the authors. The average age of a respondent is twenty-six and most are in their second or subsequent enlistment in the Coast Guard. More than half indicated they are definitely leaving or considering leaving the Coast Guard at the end of their present enlistments. As expressed by these petty officers, the major causes of voluntary separation from the service are declining benefits and inadequate pay. Additional causes are poor leadership, the poor quality of subordinates, and an inability to specialize in one aspect of their rates. (Author)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 1979
Accession Number
ADA076626

Entities

People

  • David James Ramsey Jr
  • Franklin Timothy Fowler

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Applied Psychology
  • Basic Training
  • Behavior And Behavior Mechanisms
  • Behavioral Sciences
  • Coast Guard
  • Employment
  • Enlisted Personnel
  • Families (Human)
  • Human Behavior
  • Management Personnel
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personality
  • Personnel Management
  • Psychology
  • Recruiting
  • Surveys
  • Urban Areas

Readers

  • Military Leadership and Professional Education.
  • Oceanography.
  • Psychometric Testing or Psychological Assessment.