Seabee Assignment Tradeoffs
Published Date: January 1, 2003
Abstract:D7279 The Commander of Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) asked CNA to determine what type of compensation would target any existing or impending shortfalls in Seabee retention and manning. Currently, the Seabee community receives no sea pay and little deployment-related pay. This annotated briefing presents analysis of data from the Seabee Quality-of-Service Compensation Survey, which collected data on enlisted Seabees' preferences for aspects of sea duty assignments. Our results suggest that sea duty deployments are the most arduous characteristic of a sea tour, and that most of the perceived benefit from a decrease in sea tour length or a shorter deployment rotation cycle is from corresponding decreases in deployed time. To address the perceived hardship of sea tour deployments, we estimate monthly compensations that are larger, or more expensive, than estimates calculated in a companion paper: "Can Do" No More? An Assessment of Seabee Compensation, May 2002 (CNA Research Memorandum D0005212.A2). This suggests that a monthly pay of about $200 during a sea tour is a first step in addressing Seabee dissatisfaction and manning and retention shortfalls.
