A Description of the Enlisted Service Rotation System

Describes the services’ enlisted rotation policies and related management problems. Military personnel generally perceive non-CONUS assignments as undesirable, and constraints within certain occupational fields exacerbate the effects of rotating specialists. Service-wide sentiments against non-CONUS tours are greatest when occupational fields have detrimental rotational patterns. Geographical imbalances require assigning a disproportionate number of the specialty population out of the United States. Tour categories may also be imbalanced. These interrelated conditions may lower both retention rates and productivity of the remaining specialists. As well as direct costs, there are indirect costs of higher training and recruiting rates and productivity losses created by larger pipelines, more frequent start-up times, and poor morale. Service personnel managers have suggested extended leave for voluntary extensions in non-CONUS tours and bonuses for undesirable locations. Any incentive system should increase the effective length of non-CONUS tours, thereby lessening rotation base requirements and management problems.