Determinants of the Army Applicant Job Choice Decision and the Development of a Decision Support Tool for the Enlistment Incentive Review Board
Abstract
The Army offers a variety of enlistment incentives to encourage applicants to choose Military Occupational Specialties (MOS) where the need is greatest. MOS incentive types, levels, amounts, and qualification criteria are determined by the Enlistment Incentive Review Board (EIRB). To help the EIRB effectively and efficiently perform this function, this research reviewed current incentive policy decision making process and tools, estimated a Job Choice Model (JCM) based on actual applicant choice data from the Army's Recruit Quota System (REQUEST) for the first and second quarters of FY 2010, and developed a proof-of-concept Decision Support Tool (DST) based on the JCM for predicting the number of enlistments by MOS and Term of Service (TOS) and associated cost given a user-defined policy scenario. The effects of incentives on applicant enlistment choices estimated by the JCM were intuitive for simple policy changes and more difficult to anticipate for more complex policy changes. The benefit of the JCM is that effects of policy changes on MOS fill and budget can be quantified objectively. The proof-of-concept DST demonstrated the value of a tool for informing the EIRB in allocating incentives to MOS and TOS enlistment options that can provide the most benefit to the Army.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA570569
Entities
People
- Pat Mackin
- Paul Hogan
- Paul J. Sticha
- Peter Greenston
- Tirso E. Diaz
Organizations
- Human Resources Research Organization