Summary
Although concerns about military retention problems have increased considerably in recent years, few studies have been done to systematically assess whether reductions in retention have occurred in all of the military services, whether across-the-board or targeted policy initiatives are needed, and whether the initiatives have been effective and yielded the greatest return on investment. Recent efforts by the Defense Department to establish standard data and measures and to monitor retention trends have begun to fill this information gap. However, GAO believes that further systematic assessments of military retention are needed on a systematic basis to help ensure that accurate and timely information is available to Congress. Having such information available on a regular basis can help decisionmakers to identify problems early on and tailor policy initiatives to areas that need it the most.
GAO noted that: (1) widespread reductions in retention rates were not evident at the aggregate level across the services from 1988 through 1998; (2) aggregate measures of retention, however, mask significant reductions that occurred among specific groups of military personnel in different career stages and occupational specialties; (3) these drops in retention were more evident among enlisted personnel than officers; (4) although rates declined to some extent in the early 1990s, enlisted and officer rates in 1996-1998 were very similar to those in 1988-1990; (5) the retention rates declined for enlisted personnel in the Army, the Air Force, and the Marines by 4 to 8 percent; (6) among officers, retention rates changed by about 1 percent over both the long and short term; (7) the largest reductions in retention took place among mid-career enlisted personnel with 5 to 10 years of service; (8) DOD officials attribute mid-career reductions in retention to a combination of factors such as the growth in job opportunities in the civilian sector, the negative effects of increased military operations overseas, and service members' concerns about eroding benefits and quality of life conditions; (9) the reductions in late career retention rates were also associated with personnel losses resulting from the continuation of separation programs that offered early retirement to certain military personnel with at least 15 years of service; (10) enlisted retention rates declined by 10 percent or more over both the long and short term in up to one-third of enlisted occupational groups; (11) the majority of the occupational group declines were among mid-career enlisted personnel who were concentrated in the areas of communications and intelligence and electrical and mechanical equipment repair; (12) in contrast, occupational groups for officers showed relatively smaller changes in retention; (13) comprehensive information on military retention trends across the services has been lacking; (14) all the services have ongoing efforts to track retention, but use different data and measures, making it difficult to interpret results and compare trends; (15) DOD recently formed a working group to address retention issues across the services; (16) this group issued a report to Congress in 1999 that included data by service, grade, years of service and occupation but did not provide any analysis or interpretation of the data: and (17) as a result, there is no clear picture of where retention problems exist and whether across-the-broad or targeted policy initiatives may be needed to address them.
Recommendations
Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change
from "In process" to "Implemented" or "Not implemented" based on our follow up work.
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Recommendations for Executive Action
Recommendation: In order to have timely and useful data on military retention, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Office of Force Management Policy to expand its ongoing efforts to monitor retention by conducting more systematic and comprehensive assessments of military personnel retention on an annual basis. Such assessments should examine overall retention across the services among enlisted personnel and officers as well as by key units and career and occupational groups. It is important that the assessments use consistent and reliable data and measures and appropriate time period to identify long- and short-term changes in retention. In addition, information on accessions, attrition, and end strength (total personnel assigned) should be incorporated into the assessments to provide a more comprehensive picture of gains and losses in personnel. Furthermore, information on requirements is needed to provide a context to determine whether changes in retention are meeting established goals. Finally, findings and conclusions about retention problems should be well supported and clearly communicated to Congress and other decisionmakers in a timely and consistent manner.
Agency Affected: Department of Defense
Status: Implemented
Comments: DOD concurred with GAO's recommendation to conduct more systematic and comprehensive assessments of military retention and communicate the results to Congress and other decision-makers in a timely manner. DOD has indicated that it will assess GAO's methodology and integrate it into ongoing efforts where appropriate or merited. DOD has established a retention working group to discuss retention issues and conducts monthly assessments of retention and recruiting trends across the services.
