Cost Estimates of USAR Retention Incentives for First Term Soldiers and Officers; Master's thesis

摘要

This thesis examines potential retention incentives, both monetary and non-monetary, for first-term enlisted Soldiers and officers in the United States Army Reserve. The examination: * systematically determines the most demanded, clearly defined, and Army Reserve specific incentives plausible for retention; * identifies and describes the resulting list, along with appropriate limitations and assumptions; * develops methodologies for estimating incentive costs of these incentives; * produces cost estimates for each of the incentives based on available data; and * describes follow-on analysis to construct an incentive portfolio usable to better allocate programming dollars over a six-year Program Objective Memorandum (POM) horizon. This thesis relies on data from two concurrent studies performed by the Training and Doctrine Command Analysis Center at Fort Lee (TRAC-LEE), as well as data from the Defense Manpower Data Center. The data elements from the TRAC- LEE studies include over 20,000 surveys, 200 interviews, and information on how Educational Assistance impacts the Army Reserve end strength. The methodologies and cost estimates are the initial steps in determining a budget-feasible incentive portfolio under the applied career duration patterns of the Army Reserve. This study ignores possible interactions of the incentives and error estimates of the cost estimates.