Research for Recruiting

The Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Manpower, Personnel, Training, & Education (N1)) for the eighth year, asked CNA to organize a conference for the Navy manpower and training community leadership and the research organizations that support that community. The goal of the conference was to help researchers better leverage their resources, provide more useful products, and improve the overall research program. The theme for the Eighth Annual Navy Workforce Research and Analysis Conference held in May 2008, was “Leading the Change: The Research Community in the Navy’s Strategic Vanguard.” Ms. Anita Blair, Assistant Secretary of the Navy (M&RA), Acting, RADM William E. Landay III, Chief of Naval Research, and VADM Mark E. Ferguson III, Chief of Naval Personnel began with plenary sessions. Ms. Blair presented the DoN Human Capital Strategy’s vision and strategic objective. RADM Landay delivered the keynote presentation, which focused on the Office of Naval Research (ONR) science and technology work. VADM Ferguson presented “The Role of Research and Analysis in Achieving FIT”, a total force concept for delivering the right Sailor to the right job. Researchers presented briefings in breakout sessions on manpower, personnel, training, education, diversity, quality of life and related topics.

The Commandant of the Marine Corps wants to ensure that Marines reflect the racial and ethnic characteristics of society. This paper examines the accession, representation, success, and retention of black and Hispanic Marines in the Corps’ active component. We find that black Marines’ accession and representation shares have fallen and currently are below the relevant black shares of the U.S. population. In contrast, the accession and representation shares of Hispanic Marines have generally increased over time. We also assess the occupational distribution of black and Hispanic Marines and find that they are more likely to be concentrated in support occupations. Next, we examine retention and Quality of Life for black enlisted Marines. We find that their retention behavior indicates that they have found satisfying careers in the Corps. The Corps offers black Marines steady jobs with good economic security, and black male Marines are as likely to be married as their white counterparts. Finally, we determine the prevalence of leadership and promotion opportunities for black and Hispanic Marines. We find that black and Hispanic Marines constitute a larger share of the Corps’ top enlisted ranks than suggested by their accession shares and they have done very well in officer promotions.

In this research, we use Census data to examine how the pool of potential recruits has changed in the face of changing education requirements. Next, we examine how the performance of Sailors and Marines has changed in response to these requirements. We find that education requirements often have nuanced effects on the civilian population—helping some groups while harming others. Within the Navy and the Marine Corps, education requirements have had only muted effects to date. In general, attrition rates are not influenced by these policies, but some measures of quality (i.e., AFQT scores) are. Finally, we find that the growth of those holding alternate credentials in the Navy is not related to education requirements at all but instead is related to the recruiting environment.