Members of the military with a rank below that of commissioned officer constitute a vital portion of the overall strength and mobility of an armed force. RAND research on enlisted military personnel provides objective analysis and recommendations to military leaders and civilian policymakers regarding such issues as health care, diversity and quality of recruits, reenlistment behavior, personnel management, family issues, and the effects of multiple deployments.
Report
Every uniformed service member must complete general military training requirements. This report examines training requirements and ways to standardize those requirements and reduce the training burden.
Research Brief
Examines the possibility for the Department of Defense to save money on military pay while sustaining a high-quality force.
Report
Assembles the latest available data on recruiting, retention, and military versus civilian pay, and recommends a slower increase in military pay. Discusses implementation strategies if the Defense Department moves forward with limited pay increases.
Tool
The U.S. Department of Defense sponsors many programs for servicemembers and their families. RAND compiled a searchable online catalog of 211 programs that address psychological health and traumatic brain injury.
Report
To counter the decline in the fraction of youth meeting weight and body fat enlistment standards, the U.S. Army developed a waiver program tied to a new physical fitness test, ARMS. The authors examine the program's effect on accession and attrition.
Report
Military enlistment increases earnings about 40 percent in the first few years following application, then diminishes to about 11 percent 14–18 years later. While enlistment delays college education in the short run, it increases the likelihood of attaining a two-year college degree.
Report
Examines how active component (AC) and reserve component (RC) bonuses interact -- that is, the extent to which RC enlistment bonuses draw service members away from the AC, and AC bonuses reduce prior service enlistment in the Selected Reserve.
Report
Air Force families confront issues related to children, finances, employment, and the effects of moves and deployments but, by and large, remain satisfied with Air Force life.
Report
There may be opportunities to better leverage enlisted personnel, warrant officers, and limited-duty officers in some billets designated for officers.
Report
While most U.S. government officials working in Iraq believe the use of armed private security contractors has been a useful strategy, many worry that the contractors have not always had a positive effect on U.S. foreign policy objectives.
Multimedia
In this Congressional Briefing, held on June 14, 2010, James Hosek and Beth Asch describe the effect of enlistment and reenlistment bonuses on military recruitment and retention efforts and on attrition.
News Release
Although U.S. Army deployments have been linked positively to the likelihood of reenlisting for much of the past decade, by 2006 the mounting burden of deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan reached the point where deployment had a negative effect on reenlistment.
Report
Although U.S. Army deployments have been linked positively to the likelihood of reenlisting for much of the past decade, by 2006 the mounting burden of deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan reached the
point where deployment had a negative effect on reenlistment.
Research Brief
Air Force, Army, and Navy training programs for enlisted medical personnel are being consolidated to increase interoperability. A RAND methodology defines standards of practice across services and evaluates options for obtaining qualified personnel.
Report
Presents the results of an econometric analysis that explored how effective military advertising is in generating active-duty enlistments.
Report
A methodology is outlined for defining a common standard of practice that can be applied to the surgical technologist specialty -- or any other medical specialty -- with the goal of consolidating training for enlisted military personnel across services.
News Release
As the U.S. military continues to rely on the National Guard and Reserve for overseas deployments, making sure their families are adequately prepared for those missions is critical.
News Release
Lower high school graduation rates and higher rates of obesity are two of the reasons that many Hispanics are denied entry into the U.S. military.
Report
Examines the practice of not standardizing the test scores that are part of the U.S. Air Force enlisted promotion system and discusses possible standardization strategies.
Report
Proposes a way to help the Air Force ensure that its manpower inventory matches its requirements.
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