Defense Manpower Policy

Selected presentations from the 1976 Rand Conference on Defense Manpower, a DOD-wide effort to bring together researchers and policymakers to discuss important defense manpower policy problems. The nineteen papers reproduced in this volume cover four broad policy areas: (1) the demand for manpower, including both numbers and types of personnel needed and how these requirements are affected by various factors; (2) military manpower procurement in a volunteer environment; (3) other aspects of the military manpower management problem, including training, promotion, and compensation; and (4) economic and social effects associated with defense manpower. One of the primary purposes of the conference was to exchange information and ideas and to begin to establish research priorities. These papers, which highlight problem areas and suggest potential solutions, offer a useful first step in structuring the overall defense manpower policy problem.