Effect of Different Enlistment Ages on First-Term Attrition Rate.

摘要

This thesis analyzes the effects of different enlistment age on the first-term attrition for U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps enlisted personnel with non-prior service and prior service that attrited between fiscal years of 1995 and 2013. Two separate probit models were used to analyze attrition behavior. The first model was formed to analyze the effect of age at entry on the first-term attrition for four forces. The second model focuses on the attrition based on the character disorder and analyzes the effect of different enlistment ages on this attrition. Both attrition models are conditional and analyzing attrition behavior for four terms at six months, between 6 and 12 months, between 12 and 24 months, and between 24 and 45 months. The independent variables for the two models types included demographic variables, such as Black, White, Hispanic, other race, and unknown; education level; different enlistment age dummies between 18 and 42; female or male; and AFQT Cat. Unemployment rates by states were included in the regressions. The study concluded that enlistment ages do significantly affect the attrition of enlisted personnel. This effect varies across different time periods the first six months, the second six months, the second year, and 45-months and different forces.