Review of Interventions for Reducing Enlisted Attrition in the U.S. Military: An Update

摘要

The U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI) has been conducting research on first-term enlisted attrition as part of a broader research project entitled 'STAY: Strategies to Enhance Retention.' In support of the larger project, this report reviews past and ongoing interventions that support, either directly or indirectly, attrition interventions that assist Army recruits, trainees, and Soldiers in completing training and performing at a high level during their first-term enlistment. The objective of the current effort is to support ARI as it develops plans for future attrition intervention research. In 2005, ARI's contractor, Personnel Decisions Research Institutes, Inc. (PDRI), reviewed attrition interventions that dealt primarily with social and behavioral factors affecting first-term attrition since 1973, the time of the transition to the all-volunteer force (Kubisiak, Lentz, Connell, Tuttle, Horgen, Borman, Young, & Morath, 2005). In 2007, PDRI conducted a more focused review with the goal of supplementing the original technical report with more recent information. This report documents the second, more focused review of attrition interventions. The review is based on a number of sources, including published articles, papers, technical reports, previous reviews, and briefings. In addition, Subject Matter Experts were contacted to supplement the published information with anecdotal reports and feedback about interventions. Based on these reviews, recommendations are provided to guide research on and development of future interventions.