However, I was dismayed that the research did not address one of the key issues in retention: frequent reassignments necessitating family relocation. Beyond the issues of pay and allowances, the fact that military families must relocate, often to undesirable locations, is a primary stated reason for resignation or retirement.
The average military member is better educated, more marketable, and more likely to have a family now than ever in the past. The needs of the military family have also changed to more closely reflect society in general: dual-income families, child care, and quality-of-life demands, to name a few.
Second only to pay issues, the most common reason I have heard for members departing the service is family disruption and financial loss due to Permanent Change of Station (PCS). Military reimbursement for moving expenses falls so far short of actual expenses as to make reassignment a bankrupting event for many service members. While private industry may move their personnel regularly, the moving allowances and real estate services provided make the event far less financially stressful.
To remedy this inconsistency, the military has two options: Change the military mentality that states, "you have to move to move up," or change the moving reimbursement schedules to adequately compensate families for the disruption and hardships caused by transfer. The first option requires a major sea change, the second a major funding change.
Rick Kenin
Lieutenant Commander, U.S. Coast Guard
Springfield, Va.
Editor's Note: For RAND work on PCS transfers, see Personnel Turbulence: The Policy Determinants of Permanent Change of Station Moves, W. Michael Hix, Herbert J. Shukiar, Janet M. Hanley, Richard J. Kaplan, Jennifer H. Kawata, Grant N. Marshall, Peter J.E. Stan, RAND/MR-938-A, 1998, 94 pp., ISBN 0-8330-2582-1, $15.00.