Pass navigation and go to page content
Chapter 4 ChaptersChapter 1 ButtonChapter 2 ButtonChapter 3 ButtonChapter 4 ButtonChapter 5 ButtonChapter 6 ButtonChapter 7 ButtonChapter 8 ButtonChapter 9 Button
AppendicesAppendix A ButtonAppendix B ButtonAppendix C ButtonAppendix D ButtonAppendix E Button
Chapter 4:

Age

As shown in Table 4.4, officers, on average, tend to be older than enlisted personnel. Upon commissioning in FY 2001, the average officer was nearly 27 years old in contrast to 19 years old for the average enlisted accession. The mean age of all active officers was 34 years, while that of enlisted members was 27 years. The mean age of officer accessions varies by source of commission. In FY 2001, the average age of newly commissioned officers ranged from less than 23 years for Service academy graduates to over 31 years for officers accessed through direct appointment.[footnote 5]

Table 4.4. FY 2001 Mean Age of Active Component Officer Accessions and Officer Corps in Comparison to Enlisted Personnel

  Officers Enlisted
Active Component Accessions 26.8 19.3
Active Component Force 34.3 27.0

Also see Appendix Table B-31 (Age by Service)

Figures 4.3 and 4.4 (together with Appendix Table B-31) highlight the military's emphasis on youth. The importance of youth is particularly salient in the Marine Corps, in which approximately 7 percent of newly commissioned officers were 31 or older. In contrast, the proportion of officer accessions in this age range was 18 percent in the Army, 27 percent in the Navy, and 23 percent in the Air Force. The rigorous physical demands and rapid deployment of Marines, and this Service's absence of officers in medical and ministry fields, no doubt are related to the relative youth of Marine Corps officers.

Figure 4.5 shows that FY 2001 broke the recent trend of increasing average age and time in service for the officer corps. The average officer age remained nearly constant at somewhat over 34 years in FY 2001, while the average time in service decreased to a value slightly below 11 years. The trends in age and tenure of the officer corps reflect the transition from a period of drawdown to a period of stability in the size of the force.

Figure 4.3. Age of FY 2001 Active Component officer accessions, by Service.
Figure 4.3. Age of FY 2001 Active Component officer accessions, by Service.

 

Figure 4.4. Age of FY 2001 Active Component officer corps, by Service.
Figure 4.4. Age of FY 2001 Active Component officer corps, by Service.

 

Figure 4.5. Active Component officer's mean years of age and months of service, FYs 1973-2001.
Figure 4.5. Active Component officer's mean years of age and months of service, FYs 1973-2001.

 


[Footnote 5]  Data from Defense Manpower Data Center. [back to paragraph]

 

previous | next


Home | Summary | Contents | Search | Download | Links | FAQs
Chapters: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
Appendices: | A | B | C | D | E |
Index Summary Contents Search Download Links FAQs