Policies to Improve Junior Officer Retention

Army officers are accessed through a variety of avenues, including Officer Candidate School (OCS), the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), and the United States Military Academy (USMA). The latter two paths can represent a substantial investment on the part of the Army. Over one third of ROTC graduates receive financial assistance to complete their education, and all USMA cadets attend the academy on full scholarship. In return, graduates of these two programs are required to remain in service for a set period of time. The expense associated with obtaining officers in this manner is considered worthwhile because it is assumed that some portion of these individuals will form the core leadership of the Army for years to come.

Manpower analysts within the Army noted that increasing numbers of junior officers were leaving service upon completion of their Active Duty Service Obligation. This is problematic not only because it reduces the ranks of the officer corps, but also because officers are lost who may have been effective leaders in the future. As a result, the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI) was asked to conduct a quick-turnaround study to determine why officers are not remaining in service at their historical rates, and to identify steps that can be taken to reverse this trend. Several sources of existing data were examined to shed light on these issues (e.g., the 2005 Survey of Officer Careers). ARI also decided that it would be of value to conduct focus groups with the target population to learn first hand what issues are affecting their retention decisions and what the Army can do to influence that process.

In conjunction with ARI, HumRRO researchers went to several major Army installations and interviewed groups of junior officers with various sources of commission. Among other things, these officers were asked to discuss their motivations for joining the Army, their career goals, impediments to reaching those goals, their career plans, and the major influences on those plans. All sessions were taped, and verbatim transcripts produced.

HumRRO conducted a content analysis of the focus group transcripts that summarized and prioritized both the concerns voiced and the suggestions given for how to mitigate those concerns. A final report was written and submitted to ARI and this, along with information gleaned from other databases and sources, served as the basis for briefings to Army policymakers. Subsequently, a number of initiatives were undertaken to increase the number of junior officers who choose to remain in service past their initial obligation. These included increased opportunities for graduate education and greater choice of assignment location and job. These initiatives directly reflected the input received in the focus groups.