Military Recruiting: DOD Could Improve Its Recruiter Selection and Incentive Systems
NSIAD-98-58
Published: Jan 30, 1998. Publicly Released: Jan 30, 1998.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the military services' recruiting processes, focusing on the recruiter incentive systems that the military services use to optimize the performance of military recruiters and ensure that only fully qualified applicants are enlisted.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | For the services to meet DOD's strategic goal of recruiting and retaining well-qualified military personnel, optimize recruiting command efficiency by identifying personnel who are likely to succeed as recruiters, and increase recruits' chances of graduating from basic training, the Secretary of Defense should instruct the services to use experienced field recruiters to personally interview all prospective recruiters and evaluate their potential to effectively communicate with applicants, parents, teachers, and others in the civilian community. |
All four services now use recruiters to select recruiters. For example, the Navy has formed five-member recruiter selection teams comprising career recruiters who visit units to screen personnel for recruiting duty. The Marine Corps and the Air Force use experienced recruiters to help select recruiters. The Army has formed a four-member recruit-the-recruiter team that visits installations to select potential recruiters.
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| Department of Defense | For the services to meet DOD's strategic goal of recruiting and retaining well-qualified military personnel, optimize recruiting command efficiency by identifying personnel who are likely to succeed as recruiters, and increase recruits' chances of graduating from basic training, the Secretary of Defense should instruct the services to jointly explore the feasibility of developing or procuring assessment tests that can aid in the selection of recruiters. |
Three services-the Navy, the Army, and the Air Force-are currently testing the Emotional Quotient Inventory for use in selecting recruiters. The Marine Corps has no plans to use such an instrument for selecting recruiters. Instead, it plans to continue to rely on commanders' recommendations and personal interviews to select recruiters.
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| Department of Defense | For the services to meet DOD's strategic goal of recruiting and retaining well-qualified military personnel, optimize recruiting command efficiency by identifying personnel who are likely to succeed as recruiters, and increase recruits' chances of graduating from basic training, the Secretary of Defense should instruct the services to instruct officials at the service recruiting schools to emphasize the retention portion of DOD's long-term strategic goal by having drill instructors meet with students at the schools and having the recruiters in training meet with separating recruits and those being held back due to poor physical conditioning. These practices could establish an ongoing dialogue between recruiters and drill instructors and enhance understanding of problems that lead to early attrition. |
The Marine Corps requires its recruiters and drill instructors to continually interact, both formally and informally. Navy recruiters and drill instructors meet less frequently, requiring recruiters to attend Recruiter Refresher Training at its basic training camp. Interaction between Air Force recruiters and drill instructors is similarly infrequent, generally limited to one-time recruiter visits to basic training to talk with trainees. Finally, the Army believes that its recruiting and training sites are too dispersed to require formal and regular interaction between drill instructors and recruiters.
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| Department of Defense | To maintain recruit quality and increase a recruit's chances of graduating from basic training, the Secretary of Defense should instruct the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force to implement the Marine Corps' practice of administering a physical fitness test to recruits before they report to basic training. |
Only the Marine Corps regularly tests its new recruits in physical fitness before sending them to basic training. The Navy and the Army have just begun to encourage recruits to take a voluntary physical fitness test before attending basic training as part of a larger incentive program to gain an advanced paygrade. The Air Force does not intend to administer such a physical fitness test, as it does not see fitness as a major problem.
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| Department of Defense | To enhance recruiter success and help recruiters focus on DOD's strategic retention goal, the Secretary of Defense should instruct the services to link recruiter awards more closely to recruits' successful completion of basic training. |
Three services have directly tied the measurement of success for recruiters to their recruits' successful completion of basic training. In the Navy and the Army, recruiters are awarded points when their recruits graduate from basic training. In the Marine Corps, recruiters must replace each recruit who does not graduate. In the Air Force, the recruiter's goal system is not directly tied to recruits' successful completion of basic training, but attrition rates are considered for award purposes.
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| Department of Defense | To enhance recruiters' working conditions and the services' ability to attract qualified candidates for recruiting duty, the Secretary of Defense should encourage the use of quarterly floating goals as an alternative to the services' current systems of monthly goals. |
OSD has stated that DOD recognizes that pressures placed on recruiters, particularly in times when the recruiting environment is especially challenging, can be daunting, and that any idea that appears to reduce monthly stress would be a welcome change. However, the importance of manning the force with a steady flow of new recruits is of paramount importance. Each service has stated that it needs to continue the current monthly recruiter mission to ensure a level of control that is sufficiently flexible to meet the ever-changing accessions requirements. Therefore, DOD will take no further action on this recommendation.
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| Department of Defense | To maintain recruit quality and increase a recruit's chances of graduating from basic training, the Secretary of Defense should encourage the services to incorporate more structured physical fitness training into their delayed entry program. |
All four services have taken actions to encourage new recruits to undergo physical fitness training while awaiting basic training. For example, the Navy and the Army now offer recruits an advanced paygrade if they complete a list of tasks, including physical training, before they are sent to basic training. All four services now allow recruits access to military fitness facilities while they are in the Delayed Entry Program.
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Topics
Attrition ratesEmployee incentivesEnlisted personnelMilitary cost controlMilitary personnel retentionMilitary enlistmentMilitary policiesMilitary recruitingMilitary trainingPerformance measuresPersonnel managementPhysical fitness