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Military Recruitment

Attracting qualified recruits and the costs associated with essential skills training make military recruitment an ongoing challenge; low recruitment affects, among other things, enlistee counts, unit readiness, and morale. RAND has provided objective evaluations and recommendations that support decisionmakers' efforts to monitor and manage military recruiting, including examinations of demographic groups and communities where recruiting could be more successful.

Dissertation

Dissertation

People First: Improving Equitability of Air Force Recruiting Operations

Explores concerns at the Air Force Recruiting Service regarding an imbalance in workloads among their enlisted accessions recruiters, which could negatively influence both recruiter morale and aggregate production of high-quality recruits.

Dec 24, 2019
Report

Report

Setting Military Compensation to Support Recruitment, Retention, and Performance

Drawing on a large body of research, this RAND Arroyo Center report describes military compensation as a strategic human resource tool. The author also reviews how well compensation works in this capacity and how it could be improved.

Dec 18, 2019
Brochure

Brochure

RAND Arroyo Center Annual Report 2018-2019

This Annual Report illustrates the depth and breadth of the research conducted for the Army in fiscal year 2019.

Dec 4, 2019
Report

Report

Navigating Current and Emerging Army Recruiting Challenges: What Can Research Tell Us?

The author draws on a large body of research on recruiting and examines tools and resources—including recruiters and recruiting management, eligibility criteria, and pay and bonuses—that can help the Army meet recruiting challenges.

Dec 3, 2019
Report

Big Data Could Improve Military Recruiting

DoD and the U.S. military services have had some success with data-enabled outreach and recruiting. But they could benefit from expanding their adoption of private-sector approaches. For example, recruiters could better target prospects through the use of personally identifiable information and third-party data.

Oct 22, 2019
Report

Manpower Alternatives to Enhance Total Force Capabilities: Could New Forms of Reserve Service Help Alleviate Military Shortfalls?

Changes in employment stability, family structure, and economic pressures have created challenges for the U.S. military reserve component. Modifying assumptions about Reserve duty can improve recruitment, performance, development, and retention.

Sep 11, 2019
Multimedia

Improving Gender Diversity in the U.S. Coast Guard

For active-duty women, many complex factors influence the decision to stay in or separate from the Coast Guard. In this video, RAND's Kimberly Curry Hall summarizes research on these factors and makes recommendations for improving female retention in the Coast Guard.

Aug 31, 2019
Report

Social Media Helps the Army Connect with Potential Recruits

Social media can be used to raise awareness of the Army among the public, but it's especially important for potential recruits and the adults who might influence them. An analysis of how people are engaging with GoArmy.com and the Army's Facebook and Twitter accounts suggests ways the Army could improve its outreach strategy.

Jun 3, 2019
Commentary

Why Women Belong in Coast Guard Crews

The Coast Guard benefits from the heightened respect that colleagues show each other in mixed-gender units, allowing personnel to focus and excel at their tasks at hand. When the Coast Guard zeroes in on evidence-based and appropriate accommodations for women and their physical capacities, as well as with parenting and family life, it will benefit everyone in uniform.

Apr 18, 2019
News Release

News Release

Women Leave U.S. Coast Guard at Higher Rates Than Men; More Equitable Personnel Policies Could Help Narrow Gap

As at other military services, women leave the active-duty Coast Guard at higher rates than men. To retain a diverse workforce the Coast Guard should continue to pursue more inclusive personnel policies, such as augmenting workforce gaps during parental leave, minimizing the impact parental leave has on evaluations and promotion, and expanding opportunities for leadership development training.

Mar 29, 2019
Research Brief

Why Do Women Leave the Coast Guard, and What Could Encourage Them to Stay?

Women leave the Coast Guard at higher rates than men. Focus groups raised concerns about work environment, career issues, and personal life matters. More inclusive personnel policies could help the Coast Guard address these concerns and retain more women.

Mar 29, 2019
Report

Report

Improving Gender Diversity in the U.S. Coast Guard: Identifying Barriers to Female Retention

This report documents the results of a study designed to help identify the root causes of female attrition in the active-duty Coast Guard and develop recommendations to help mitigate identified barriers to Coast Guard female retention.

Mar 29, 2019
Report

Report

Developing a National Recruiting Difficulty Index

The U.S. Army recognizes that the recruiting environment has a significant impact on its ability to recruit. This report presents a forecasting model that measures recruiting difficulty to forecast a difficult or easy recruiting environment.

Mar 13, 2019
Multimedia

Military Compensation to Support Retention, Performance, and Talent Management

An overview of testimony by Beth J. Asch presented before the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel on March 12, 2019.

Mar 12, 2019
Testimony

Military Compensation to Support Retention, Performance, and Talent Management

Military compensation is a critical strategic human resource tool. It helps attract and retain personnel with the necessary skills and qualifications to meet service requirements. The compensation system has performed well over time, but there are elements that could potentially be improved.

Mar 12, 2019
Report

Report

The Relationship Between Disability Evaluation and Accession Medical Standards

If accession medical policies are changed, does the probability of medical discharge change? If so, how does the change in the probability of medical discharge alter postservice costs to the department? This report answers these questions.

Mar 11, 2019
Report

Life as an Army Private: Six Soldiers Tell Their Stories

In their own words, six junior soldiers describe why they joined the U.S. Army, their joys and frustrations, and what they hope the future brings. These stories offer lessons for policymakers, Army leaders and recruiters, and anyone considering a career in the Army.

Mar 6, 2019
Commentary

Is Japan's New Defense Plan Ambitious Enough?

Under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan has significantly increased capabilities to meet increasing regional security challenges. But Tokyo may need to do more to manage the complex security environment surrounding Japan.

Dec 6, 2018
Report

Military and Civilian Pay Levels, Trends, and Recruit Quality

In the all-volunteer force, pay is one of the most important policy tools for recruiting and retaining personnel. One measure is how it compares to the pay of civilians with similar characteristics. Military pay has risen faster than civilian pay since 1999 and three of the services have increased the quality of their recruits.

Dec 3, 2018
Commentary

Just Let Them Compete: Raising the Next Generation of Wargamers

Wargames are games that simulate aspects of warfare at varying levels, aimed at analyzing human decisionmaking. To develop the next generation of avid wargamers, the first step is both radical and simple: Let them compete.

Oct 9, 2018

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RAND Topic:
Military Recruitment

Topic Synonyms:
Enlistment

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