The All-Volunteer Force

Five Years Later

Richard V.L. Cooper

ResearchPublished 1977

Results from the first five years without the draft have shown that the volunteer force has worked. Assuming that the military begins to reduce its personnel turnover rates, and barring major unforeseen circumstances, the all-volunteer force (AVF) can probably meet the nation's military manpower needs for the remainder of this century. The debate over an AVF has diverted attention from the issues of resource allocation and manpower management. Removal of the draft presents the opportunity to tackle these issues. This paper provides a brief discussion of why the draft was ended; examines evidence from the first five years without conscription, and explores changes that may be needed to make military manpower policy consistent with an all-volunteer environment. The potential of the AVF will depend critically on policies the Department of Defense and Congress implement during the next ten years, for the true test will occur in the 1980s.

Order a Print Copy

Format
Paperback
Page count
70 pages
List Price
$25.00
Buy link
Add to Cart

Topics

Document Details

  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Available
  • Year: 1977
  • Print Format: Paperback
  • Paperback Pages: 70
  • Paperback Price: $25.00
  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.7249/P6051
  • Document Number: P-6051

Citation

RAND Style Manual
Cooper, Richard V.L., The All-Volunteer Force: Five Years Later, RAND Corporation, P-6051, 1977. As of October 15, 2024: https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P6051.html
Chicago Manual of Style
Cooper, Richard V.L., The All-Volunteer Force: Five Years Later. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1977. https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P6051.html. Also available in print form.
BibTeX RIS

This publication is part of the RAND paper series. The paper series was a product of RAND from 1948 to 2003 that captured speeches, memorials, and derivative research, usually prepared on authors' own time and meant to be the scholarly or scientific contribution of individual authors to their professional fields. Papers were less formal than reports and did not require rigorous peer review.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.