Military Educational Benefits as a Recruiting Incentive
Abstract
Since we last testified, CBO has received final data reflecting the Army's fiscal year 1981 recruiting successes, and the Congress has enacted a major military pay raise. We have also refined and extended our earlier estimates, especially those concerning the so-called "transferability" provision. Our major findings are: 1) If the favorable 1981 recruiting trends continue, and if end strengths remain constant, the Army--which has had the most serious recruiting problems--should meet its numerical goals for enlisted recruits and the quality goals mandated by the Congress in each of the next five years, 2) Additional recruiting incentives, such as improved educational benefits, would be needed by the Army only after 1982, and then mainly as a hedge against end strength increases or a reversal of favorable 1981 trends, 3) Improved educational benefits in H.R. 1400, if targeted mainly on the Army, could provide such a hedge, but at an eventual cost of as much as $2.8 billion a year in today's dollars. 4) Concerns about the retention effects of educational benefits, which prompted inclusion of a transferability provision in H.R. 1400, might more cheaply be met through increases in selective reenlistment bonuses.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 17, 1981
- Accession Number
- ADA529544
Entities
People
- Daniel F. Huck
- Robert F. Hale
Organizations
- Congressional Budget Office