Italy's All-Volunteer Army: An Analytical Framework for Understanding the Key Policy Issues and Choices During the Transition

摘要

This dissertation builds an analytical framework for understanding the key policy issues and tradeoffs affecting the Italian Army's transition from a mixed conscript/volunteer model to an All-Volunteer Force (AVF) . The analysis specifically focuses on the management of the enlisted and non-commissioned officer (NCO) force, and is driven by two specific research goals: assist the Army in identifying transition paths most likely to lead to a balanced force, taking costs into account, where the 'balanced force' objective is related to how personnel are distributed by grade and years of service (YOS); provide guidance on force management processes such as recruitment and identify areas for improvement. These objectives were pursued in two distinct phases. In the first phase a significant quantity of information was gathered on the Army's personnel systems and processes--including the recruitment establishment, compensation and promotion, and the current experience mix. Data were collected during a series of interviews and visits with Army and Ministry of Defense (MoD) officials. These were then combined with insights from the existing military manpower literature to generate hypotheses and preliminary conclusions.