Identifying Opportunities to Improve Army Recruiting Since conscription ended in the United States in 1973 and the introduction of the all volunteer armed military forces approach, the need for an effective recruiting became increasingly important. In response, military services have taken several steps to professionalize their recruiting functions over the years as well as through the use of a number of proven marketing methods borrowed from the private sector. To date, these recruiting efforts have achieved their overall goals of ensuring a steady stream of qualified candidates for the nation's armed forces for the last 40 years, but there have been some challenges experienced during this period including most especially increasingly diminished interest in professional military service as a viable career path during periods of healthy economic performance. In this regard, Klerman and Karoly (1999) report that, "In making post-high school decisions, American youth compare enlisting in the military with other alternatives, such as continued education and work. Consequently, the future of recruiting in the Army depends, in large part, on the prospects facing American youth" (p. 41). This situation changed briefly following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and military recruiters across the country were flooded with qualified and highly motivated candidates. This level of patriotic fervor has been followed by a period in which qualified candidates for
Post 9-11 military enlistment numbers spiked because individuals wanted to serve and protect our recently attacked country and our way of life. If individuals are forced to participate in a military campaign, the government will be relieved of one of the checks that help prevent them from engaging in unpopular or unwarranted campaigns.
Some people such as yourself, who do not support military recruiting in high schools, worry that military recruiters prey on the poor students and persuade them to join by offering things such as signing bonuses and the promise of free college. Admittedly those things might be offered, although not specifically for those of a lower income household, but for all recruits, and they are not intended to be used to trap those students into the Military service. In a study done by the Center for Naval Analyses under the Department of Defense it was found that when the nation is divided into five “strata of affluence”, from poorest to wealthiest areas, most recruits hail from the three middle-income brackets while the poorest (under $36,74 a year) and the wealthiest (over $76,981 a year) brackets are under-represented (CNA 2014). I understand your concerns on this matter, and while in some cases the recruiters might actually focus on the lower income families, the majority of the military recruiters just want to see your children do what they are passionate about and see them succeed in it, as I know you do as
The argument that the military recruiters target minorities and the less fortunate is the frame work behind the notation to restrict military recruiting events on school campuses and is far from the truth. According to (Wyant, 2012) there is a history of diversity in the armed forces. A 2008 study from Syracuse University examines the extent to which the poor and minorities are disproportionately selected into the military. The author noted, that the study done in 1980 found that from 1940 to 1973 blacks were less likely to join the military than whites, while in more recent years, a 2006 study concluded that blacks are overrepresented in the military. The same 2006 study found that people who served in the military come from more well-off neighborhoods than those who have not joined the military – although, the economic elite are underrepresented in the armed
Outside of tax incentives (Dewitte, 2013), there are many benefits to hiring veterans in your workforce. From first hand experience, I have seen the dedication to mission, unwavering focus, drive, initiative, motivation, and standards of excellence that many veterans practice. As the daughter of a 23-year, twice deployed, disabled Army veteran and now a wife to a twice-deployed, career Army husband, I can attest to these characteristics and believe they make most veterans extremely valuable assets for an organization. Other important quality veterans bring to the table is their leadership capabilities, practical on-the-job training and experience (Dewitte, 2013), the ability to collaborate and work in teams, ability to work in stressful environments, and experience with workforce diversity.
The military is an essential component of the security of the United States. The military needs men and women at the peak of their performance. Because of this, the military looks to recruit high school students as young as seventeen years old. However, many people do not want recruiters in high schools and the debate of whether high schools should allow military recruiters inside has transpired. Numerous reasons exist explaining why schools should allow recruiters on campuses. High schools should allow military recruiters because, although many say that recruiters don’t tell the whole truth, students usually already know the information. Recruiters inform students of the benefits and opportunities that the military offers and they
As the Nebraska Army National Guard strives to meet the recruiting, retention, and end strength mission every year. This past year our emphasis on recruiting has been in a number of areas that will benefit the RRNCO’s individual mission. One of the many ways to help achieve our mission is to have a market strategy. Through research on demographic areas, knowing our competition, having a focus and a plan, market strategy, and implementing and evaluating that plan, a target market will be easily be identified and mission goals will be obtained.
Regarding research into religion’s involvement in a member’s decision to enlist into the military, little has been performed. What little work has been done delves into Christianity and how evangelism influences a member’s decision, as well as how church adherence impacted enlistment post 9/11. In sum, the conclusion was drawn that evangelists have a higher propensity for enlistment when compared to non-evangelical Christians and non-religious individuals alike (Burdette). This could contribute to the overrepresentation of southern states, as many southerners have evangelical Christian roots. Additionally, church adherence post 9/11 negatively impacted enlistment, per the research of Defronzo. He notes that some changes could be explained by
The career of my choice has many steps to getting this career. I researched the U.S. Air force. The U.S. Air Force only hires the ones that the recruiter believes are the most dedicated to obtain the job. There is a list of things that each recruiter looks for in all applicants. These characteristics may include having birth certificates ready to go, asking for specific date on next appointment, and many other good work habits. After the recruiting stages you have the MEPS which is basically the process that disqualifies any un-eligible applicants. The U.S. Air Force is extremely strict on who they hire. After each test is accepted then you will be transferred to your Basic Military Training or also known as (BMT).
In the case of military service it goes without question that serving is a privilege and a honor for those that decide to serve. However, the question I would like to know is, should we change the way we recruit troops? In saying that and going back to the case study, Sandel presents different ways of military recruitment. The first way of recruitment was by forcing people to serve, the draft. An old tactic that was used years ago in my opinion placed people in positions of being vulnerable and sad because their lives were controlled by people of higher power. The second way of recruitment still involved the draft concept, however it allowed for people to pay random replacements to fill in their spot in fighting in the war and joining the military. There are people that may agree to this
Generations in the past had to worry about depressions, wars, and other horrific obstacles that Millennials could not fathom in this day in age. Without these intimidations to the country, young people just do not feel the same impulse to fight for our country. One could claim that the 9/11 attacks or recent quandaries with ISIS should be enough to motivate this new generation to serve, but this has just not been the case. Another enormous alteration to America’s culture is the deterioration of morals in this country. Many Americans currently would rather take the quick and painless route, even if this is not the morally right thing to do. More verdicts are being made out of one’s selfish intentions when this time and effort could be spent helping others in need. The values that are presently offered can be very telling of the discouraging state that this country is
The multiple regression analysis was performed to find out predictive factors such as Attitude towards Military, Subjective Norms, and Self-Efficacy that account for the maximum proportion of the variance in criterion variable Intention to Enlist. The multiple regression was conducted to determine the contribution of the independent variables in predicting enlistment behavior. Regression results indicate that the overall model
Before he passed away in 1999, satirical novelist, Joseph Heller, wrote in his book Catch-22, “I had examined myself pretty thoroughly and discovered that I was unfit for military service” (Heller, 282). While in this instance, the individual was missing a leg and therefore not eligible for service, this quote has been used at times by those that have a fear or misunderstanding of the United States Armed Forces. Despite this, there is a requirement to maintain the volume of Soldiers within the United States Army and that recruiting companies develop a desire to join within the communities where they are located. Understanding the Companies
Even now, before the recession lifts, our research suggests that most global companies are running into staffing problems in emerging markets, and they are also having a difficult time finding talented younger managers to replace baby boom retirees. These problems will be made all the worse because, we’ve found, current hiring practices are haphazard at best and ineffective at worst. And even when companies find the right people, they have difficulty retaining them. This article offers our best thinking about the most effective way to hire top-level managers, based on a combination of our own and established research about the relationship between recruiting and long-term corporate performance (see the research sidebar). The following is, to our knowledge, the first time that an end-to-end set of best practices has been put forward in one place. Our compendium comprises seven steps, which cover the full recruitment spectrum: anticipating the need for new hires, specifying the job,
For reliability, an agency’s human resources department must be able to recruit and select people who meet all the qualifications, responsive to available incentives, and able to develop new skills and abilities. The capacity to acquire capable employees is essential if the government is to successfully provide the numerous services associated with modern public service. Success in recruitment and selection, in turn, depends on many factors including the provision of adequate pay and benefits, satisfactory working conditions, and the implementation of application and selection procedures that are not overly cumbersome, complicated, or lengthy. The public personnel office must also develop and implement recruitment and selection
When Joseph’s friends who had served as soldiers came back to home, they shared their thrilling adventures with him. Some of these veterans voluntarily enlisted while others were drafted. According to statistics, “2/3 of the men who served in Vietnam were volunteers [whereas] 2/3 of the men who served in World War II were drafted” (“Statistics about the Vietnam War”). Within the decade in between the end of World War II (1939-1945) and the beginning of the Vietnam War (1955-1975), there was a dramatic shift in men’s willingness to go to war, presumably due to the GI Bill that was implemented towards the end of World War II. However, regardless of how his friends ended up in the army, they all shared similar positive experiences with Joseph. Some of them had fought in Vietnam; others had traveled to U.S. military bases in countries such as Germany and Japan. Captivated by their war stories, Joseph decided that joining the army would be his ticket out of the cold, dreary city of Utica, New York.