Research for Community Center

As part of its research support for the 10th Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation, CNA was asked to ana¬lyze various quality of life (QoL) programs. Based on our review of the existing literature, we focus on more traditional QoL “programs,” such as commissaries. Using data from the DMDC’s December 2006 Status of Forces Survey, we find that those who use the community center, child care, or commissary are much more likely to intend to stay in the military compared with those who have the programs available and do not use them. Use of any QoL program represents a type of “engagement” in the military and should therefore be encouraged. The majority of servicemembers expressed a preference for keeping access to specific QoL programs open to family members instead of a cash voucher system. However, we find that servicemembers undervalue the cost of their benefits, both in how much they perceive their benefits cost the military and in how easy they think it would be to find similar income and benefits in the civilian world. In the case of retirement plans, those who were satisfied with the current system were much more likely to plan to continue serving in the military.