Personnel Turbulence

The movement of soldiers between permanent duty stations in the future will remain as prevalent as it was before the downsizing that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union. Although the Army has greatly reduced its European strengths, the rate of permanent change of station moves continues to be driven by (1) the relatively short tour lengths and only slightly diminished force size in Korea and (2) the duration of service of the force as a whole. Moves of soldiers to and from overseas stations, together with moves of new soldiers into and departing soldiers out of the Army, account for 90 percent of all permanent change of station moves. To substantially reduce movement rates, the proportion of the force serving overseas would have to be reduced, or lengths of service would have to be dramatically increased. The first of these policy changes lies outside the Army's authority; any savings associated with the second would be offset by substantial incremental costs to provide the financial incentives for soldiers to serve longer.