MILITARY ATTRITION: DoD Needs to Follow Through on Actions Initiated to Reduce Early Separations
Abstract
This report discusses work on the recruiting and attrition of the military services' enlisted personnel. At the request of a Congressional Subcommittee, the General Accounting Office (GAO) began a body of work in this area in 1995. Enlisted attrition is a complex problem, and many processes and people are involved in recruiting and retaining qualified enlisted personnel. Because of the complexity of this issue, GAO segmented the enlistment process into its component parts and issued separate reports on (1) recruiter selection and incentive systems and their effects on recruiter performance, (2) the screening of incoming recruits for criminal history information to ensure that only qualified persons are allowed to enlist, (3) reasons for attrition during the first 6 months of an enlistee's term, and (4) reasons for premature attrition after first-term enlistees have completed 6 months of service. Other products related to these issues are listed in appendix I. This report presents a summary of GAO's work to date and the status of the actions initiated by the Department of Defense (DOD) to improve recruiter and recruit quality and to reduce attrition. Keeping qualified enlisted personnel in the military has become even more crucial as the services' struggles to meet their recruiting goals have become even more intense in recent years.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 24, 1999
- Accession Number
- ADA360766
Entities
People
- Mark E. Gebicke
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office