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RAND Review
Iraq and Beyond
Promoting Reenlistments
By James Hosek
James Hosek is a senior economist at RAND.
The ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have placed unprecedented strains on the all-volunteer U.S. military force, requiring an application of power that is more intensive and more prolonged than at any time since the era of the draft during the Vietnam War. Moreover, the one-third cut in active-duty personnel since the end of the Cold War, from 2.1 million to 1.4 million, has necessitated longer and repeated deployments, especially for the army and the Marine Corps.
These deployments have posed extraordinary challenges for service members and their families. Personnel are sometimes deployed for 12 months in nontraditional, hostile conditions, with only six months at home before their next deployment. The strains have been borne by nondeployed personnel as well. Like deployed personnel, nondeployed personnel frequently work long days to support the heightened pace of military operations. Both deployed and nondeployed personnel report rising levels of stress as the result of the increasing frequency of working long days.
| Deployed or Not Deployed, Enlisted Personnel Who Frequently Work Long Days Report Less Intention to Reenlist |
SOURCE: How Deployments Affect Service Members, 2006. |
Of particular concern to defense policymakers, the added stress from working long days has lowered the intentions of personnel to reenlist. This pattern holds true for both deployed and nondeployed personnel across all four major services: the army, air force, navy, and Marines (see the figure). There is practically no difference between those who are deployed and those who are not.
To offset the negative effects of the long workdays, the U.S. Department of Defense should
- spread deployments widely across service members and units
- examine further ways to compensate personnel who are deployed repeatedly or for long durations
- consider additional pay and recognition for nondeployed personnel who frequently work long days
- provide deployed troops with effective, accessible, and inexpensive communication home
- consider expanding mental health programs to help personnel cope with combat-related stress.
Indeed, the military services are now taking some of these steps, and in fact retention has remained high during the Iraq and Afghanistan operations. Ongoing research at RAND has contributed to a deeper understanding of the factors that affect stress and the intention to reenlist in the military — and the type of actions that defense policymakers can take to sustain retention.
The good news is that service members value deployments as an opportunity to use their training in real-world missions and to participate in meaningful operations. However, service members have preferences and expectations for the duration and frequency of deployments. If deployments exceed those parameters — as may occur with prolonged durations or uncertain schedules — then satisfaction with military life can suffer. When possible, therefore, deployments should be spread widely across qualified service members and units rather than limited to the same individuals.
Increasing deployment pay could offset some of the negative effects of unusually long and frequent deployments on morale and reenlistment. The defense department is now looking into increasing such compensation. In addition, heavy deployment schedules now and in the future could deter some prospective recruits. Therefore, the military might need to offer enlistment bonuses to compensate for the greater perceived risk.
It is also worth considering additional pay and recognition for nondeployed personnel who are often called upon to work longer than the usual duty day. Nondeployed personnel report that such hours create stress at both work and home, leaving little time for a personal life. Yet personnel receive no extra pay for frequently working extra hours. One option for introducing such pay would be to extend the eligibility for Special Duty Assignment Pay to include personnel who do not deploy but who fill positions that require many long days.
The aspects of deployment that increase stress and discourage reenlistments most significantly are family separation, high operations tempo (lengthy and frequent deployments), long work hours, and uncertain schedules. These aspects could be mitigated through various means.
Focus groups that we have conducted with service members suggest that effective, accessible, inexpensive communication home while on deployment would help to reduce the stress of family separation. Expanded family-support programs might also play a role.
With respect to the high operations tempo, our analysis of survey data has found that service members who feel that they and their units are well prepared have lower-than-usual stress and higher reenlistment intentions. Coupled with this, we have learned from focus group members that training needs to be continuously revised to keep up with nontraditional tactics and with counterinsurgency, stabilization, and peacekeeping operations. The military is, in fact, adapting its training to include the lessons learned in Iraq and Afghanistan.
To ease the burden of long hours, certain tasks might be eliminated or postponed. Personnel might be temporarily reassigned to assist with pressing tasks. And, as mentioned, pay might be increased.
To offset the effects of uncertain schedules, a predictable rotation cycle could help. But when deployment times are not predictable, it would be useful to advise service members of this uncertainty so that they and their families can plan around it.
Some focus group participants said that they coped informally with combat-related stress by turning to their buddies for support rather than seeking professional help. Among the reasons given for doing so were that buddies had shared the same experiences and “understood,” and that visiting a mental health professional would be entered into their personnel file and might be perceived as a sign of weakness.
Military health officials now mandate screening for posttraumatic stress disorder among returning personnel. Mandatory screening eliminates the stigma an individual might feel in seeking help. The services also offer counseling to departing and returning personnel, helping them cope with stress related to family separation and reintegration. But these programs might need to be expanded to ensure that all members, even those who live far from bases, have access to mental health care. In addition, because soldiers often rely on their buddies, it might be useful to train soldiers how to help other soldiers handle stress.
It is important to keep in mind that our data and focus
groups reflect only the early stages of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since 2004, the fighting in Iraq has become far more lethal, some personnel have been ordered to stay on duty even after having fulfilled their terms of service, and growing numbers of personnel have faced their second or even third deployments. It remains to be seen how these changes might alter the research findings. 
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