Officer Career Development: Opinions on the Navy's Career Guidance andReassignment Practices

摘要

The Navy lacks feedback from officers on the effectiveness of its career guidanceand reassignment practices and the extent to which officers' reactions are related to their career motivation. The research focused on the unrestricted line (URL) communities: aviation warfare officers (pilots, naval flight officers (NFOs)), surface warfare officers (SWOs), and general URL (GenURL) office. Questionnaire data were collected at two points in time, separated by 4 years (Time1 (T1) and Time2 (T2). Data analyses were descriptive and correlational. Findings were as follows. Individuals from all the communities at both T1 and T2 indicated that they wanted a special career counseling system established for officers. Officers relied most often on peers for their career information at both points in time. All communities were pleased with the assignment manager's (detailer's) knowledge of career policies and billets at T1 and T2. However, pilots, NFOs, and SWOs viewed their detailers as being less credible (honest and accurate) at T2 than at T1. Officer evaluations of the assignments they had received in the past produced the Largest correlations at TI and T2 (.20s and low .30s) with an individual's commitment to a 20-year naval career.