5 Age

This Chapter:

Accessions
Enlisted

This Section:

Age
Race/Ethnicity
Gender
Marital Status
Education
AFQT

 Age.  The largest proportions of FY 1997 NPS Reserve Component accessions were in the 17- to 19-year age group (Table 5.2).  The one exception to this trend was the USNR, which had 66 percent falling in the 25- to 34-year age group.  This percentage is substantially larger than the 47 percent falling in the 25- to 34-year age group in FY 1996, as there were significant drops in the 17- to 19-year age group (7 percent to 1 percent from FY 1996 to FY 1997) and the 20- to 24-year age group (10 percent to 2 percent from FY 1996 to FY 1997).  This may have been a result of the decrease in the percentage of unknown NPS Reserve Component accessions for the USNR (21 percent to 11 percent from FY 1996 to FY 1997).

 Several factors contribute to age differences within the Reserve Component, including the size of the recruiting mission and the incentives used by recruiters.  ARNG and USAR recruiters work extensively with the high school population because of the size of their respective NPS recruiting missions.  Although the high school senior market is their primary target, recruiters use the split training option as an important incentive.  This option allows high school juniors to enlist and attend basic training after their junior year of high school, and then enter skill training a year later upon graduating from high school.  In FY 1997, 39 and 20 percent, respectively, of ARNG and USAR NPS recruits were students still enrolled in high school.

Table 5.2.  FY 1997 Selected Reserve Non-Prior Service Enlisted Accessions, by Age and Component,
 and Civilian Labor Force 17-35 Years Old (Percent)

Age
Group

Army
National Guard

Army
Reserve

Naval
Reserve

Marine Corps Reserve

Air
National
Guard

Air
Force
Reserve

Total
DoD

17-35
Year-Old
Civilians

17-19

62.1

66.6

0.5

66.7

49.7

42.2

59.3

15.6

20-24

24.0

23.9

2.3

27.5

34.0

37.3

24.1

23.9

25-29

8.3

6.2

33.9

5.2

10.5

13.6

9.0

25.9

30-34

3.5

2.7

32.0

0.5

5.3

6.3

4.7

28.5

35-39

1.1

0.2

19.7

*

0.4

0.7

1.7

6.1

40-44

0.4

0.0

0.3

0.0

*

0.0

0.2

 

45-49

0.2

*

0.1

0.0

0.1

0.0

0.1

 

50+

0.1

*

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.1

 

  Unknown

0.2

0.5

11.2

0.1

*

0.0

0.9

 

  Total

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

Columns may not add to total due to rounding.
 * Less than one-tenth of one percent.
Also see Appendix
Tables C-1 (Age by Component and Gender) and C-2 (Age by Marital Status and Gender).
Source:  Civilian data from Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population Survey File, October 1996-September 1997.

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