Modeling the Individual Enlistment Decision: Analysis of the Career Decision Survey

摘要

Recently, youth interest in military service has declined, making it difficult for the Army to recruit sufficient soldiers to maintain its strength. To address this problem, research was conducted to (a) refine enlistment propensity measures to increase their accuracy, (b) develop improved measures to segment the youth population, and (c) increase understanding of the enlistment decision process. A Career Decision Survey was developed and administered to a representative sample of males from 16 to 21 years of age. The survey measured enlistment propensity, as well as reasons for enlisting, self-assessed aptitude, personality and temperament. military knowledge and attitudes, career preferences, work values, career decision making, high school activities, physical fitness, family structure, and neighborhood safety. Finally, the survey included a telephone-administered word knowledge test. Analyses identified several individual characteristics that predict enlistment behavior, including attitudes toward conditions of military service, physical fitness, family structure, and academic support and activities. The telephone word knowledge test provided a quick and reasonably accurate measure of aptitude that could be used to segment the youth population by aptitude. The telephone word knowledge test and selected survey items are reasonable additions to the Youth Attitude Tracking Study (YATS). In addition, analysis results have direct implications for recruiting policy.