Answer: Yes. Specific skill management is the keystone to enlisted personnel management. We attack shortages and imbalances through personnel policies and programs to include the use of special pays such as the Selective Reenlistment Bonus. Question: What is the potential of using tailored pay increases to attract and retain people with critically needed skills? Answer: Under current law, we have the authority to target the pay raise by grade and years of service, but not by skill. Further, we do not believe the annual military pay raise should be used for that purpose. The annual military pay raise should be used to provide all military personnel with a level of pay that enables them to maintain a standard of living generally comparable to that of their private sector civilian counterparts. Shortages in particular skill areas should be addressed through the use of special pays, incentive pays, and bonuses. Question: Retention of Senior NCO What is the Department doing to retain senior non-commissioned officers (NCO) in critical skill shortage areas beyond their traditional 20-year retirement? Answer: We manage the career force by years or length of service which is similar to experience levels. The Services strive to take appropriate action when the number of people in the later years of service groups are projected to be less than the objective. For example, the Air Force liberally uses waivers to their tenure policies to allow individuals with needed skills to stay on beyond normal separation points. Increases in compensation as well as an appreciation on the part of the nation for military service have contributed to our ability to retain people for longer periods. Research shows that non-compensation items are a strong factor in retaining senior people and for this reason we are emphasizing improvement in the quality of life for all servicemembers. Question: - Retraining Has DoD undertaken any programs to retrain personnel with surplus skills and shift them to jobs where they are needed? Answer: Yes. All of the Services are doing this and use various incentives such as the Selective Reenlistment Bonus to encourage this. For example, in the Army, soldiers who qualify to reenlist for training in another skill may only do so for a shortage skill. In the Air Force, volunteers will be retrained first, but if more people are needed to meet the retraining goal, non-volunteers could be selected. Question: - Reenlistment Supply and Demand Does the Department consider the supply and demand situation in various skill positions prior to accepting personnel for reenlistment? Answer: A good example of how the Services implement policies of this nature is the Army which now allows reenlistments only in present skill or in a shortage skill. Reenlistment objectives to Army major commands are specified by MOS as well as quantity. Question: The President has recommended an 8 percent increase in compensation for military personnel. A number of authorities believe that the last place to cut Defense expenditures is in compensation. I would like your comments on this matter. Answer: The 14.3 percent military pay raise of last October generally restored military to competitive levels and we estimate that an 8 percent increase would be required this October to maintain those levels. However, we recognize that DOD, like other groups in the public and private sector, may have to sacrifice a bit. In this regard, the military pay raise may be less than 8 percent. Over the long term this Administration is committed to maintaining military pay comparability. To the extent that military pay is restrained this year, we will be seeking to make it up in future years. Question: In terms of the total Federal budget, military manpower costs represent about 8.1 percent, and, when civilian personnel costs are added, manpower is about 11.2 percent of the Federal budget. Does this not present a problem when one considers the merits of manpower costs versus the procurement of new weapon systems and facilities? Answer: We feel that our resources to support military and civilian personnel should be examined on the basis of what is required to provide the numbers and quality of personnel that the department needs not as a ratio to total Federal spending. It would make little sense to invest in complicated weapon systems which would be poorly operated or maintained. The resources requested in the President's budget reflect our best estimate of the proper balance between manpower and equipment. Congressional Constraints on Recruit Quality QUESTION: Your statement mentions that the quality standards mandated by Congress hinder management flexibility and require additional recruiting resources. Would you comment on the additional measures that the Services are required to take to assure compliance with the quality standards? - ANSWER: Many initiatives have been undertaken to improve the quality of recruits. The Department of Defense and the Services, with the support of Congress, have obtained improved compensation, more flexible enlistment bonuses, and more attractive educational incentives. All will help increase the number of high aptitude high school graduate enlistments especially in the Army, the Service facing the greatest challenge. In addition, all of the Services have established quality goals for recruiting which will more than satisfy the Congressional constraints on recruit quality. The Services have raised their enlistment standards and are now screening out applicants who would have been eligible to enlist in FY 1980. Moreover, recruiting and advertising plans and programs are directed at the high quality markets focusing on high schools and colleges. Estimated Cost of Complying with Recruit Quality Constraints QUESTION: What is your estimate of the annual cost of complying with the quality standards? ANSWER: Due to a number of closely related variables, it is very difficult to accurately estimate the specific recruiting costs associated with meeting the quality constraints. Increases in military pay over the past two years (to achieve comparability with the civilian sector), increases in recruiting resources (to include a more flexible bonus program and enhanced educational benefits), plus the economy made it possible for the Army to exceed the constraints in FY 1981 and FY 1982. This is contrasted with FY 1980 when about 50 percent of the Army non-prior service enlistees were in Category IV and less than 50 percent of the Army's male non-prior service enlistments were high school diploma graduates. The combination of a number of factors including expected improvements in the economy, continued decline in the youth population, current enlistment incentives, levels of recruiting resources and military pay could make meeting the constraints a major challenge in the future. However, even though there is much uncertainty about all of these factors and it is impossible to accurately predict the future, DoD and the Administration are committed to obtaining the number and type of recruits needed. Public Attitude QUESTION: Just how great an influence has been the change on the part of the public toward the military? Is this really considered by the young adult when he considers enlisting in our military services? ANSWER: There has been a considerable attitudinal shift on the part of the American public toward supporting the military. Our market research surveys show that youth are influenced by such attitudes; and particularly look to advice about enlistment from teachers, counselors and parents. To illustrate the possible effects of such a shift we can point to the increased applications, of very high quality applicants, for the Service academies and ROTC scholarships; the increases in ROTC units; and an increase in the numbers of high schools that agree to participate in the DoD High School Testing Program (wherein one million students per annum take the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery). Further, the Commanders of our respective recruiting commands have stated that the overall public atmosphere has become much more supportive, and this has been a tremendous asset to their field recruiters. Declining Youth Population QUESTION: What are the facts concerning the declining youth population? What are we facing between now and 1990? ANSWER: The attached chart reflects the changes in the primary recruiting market, 18 to 24 year old males, through the year 2000. Basically, the market decline continues through 1996 when it then starts to increase. This decline will have an impact on recruiting. However, that decline will be ameliorated by a number of factors: the increasing numbers of women in the work force, the economy, and the competitiveness of the enlistment package versus civilian offerings and the public perception of the servicemember also are factors that will affect the enlistment decision. Advertising Resources QUESTION: The size of Joint Service Advertising has recently been doubled. Now that we are essentially obtaining all the accessions that we need is now the time that economies can - be effected and start reducing expenses of programs? ANSWER: On the surface a reduction of advertising resources at a time when the Services are meeting their recruiting objectives seems to be a logical move. However, we must urge caution if you are considering a reduction to the fiscal year 1983 advertising budgets. Service recruiting and advertising budget requests were significantly reduced in fiscal year 1976 below prior year levels as a result of the relative ease with with the Services were able to meet their recruiting objectives in the midst of high youth unemployment, competitive entry pay, highly valuable post-service educational benefits and a relatively high male propensity to exist. During the intervening period from 1977 to 1979 the competiveness of military service versus civilian opportunities declined. Only recently has the delicate balance of resources and unemployment been realigned. Our recruiting success in fiscal year 1981 and 1982 bear this out. The Department has taken action to effect economies in the advertising area (i.e., the increase of joint advertising resulting in over $4 million annual savings). We are also planning the initiation of a large scale in-market field experiment to determine the proper mix and levels of joint and Service specific advertising. The results of the test may reveal further efficiencies and economies to the Department's advertising program. The advertising resources requested for fiscal years 1983 reflect a slight increase over fiscal year 1981 levels. The advertising resources for 1983 show the Department's desire to boost our share of the declining male high school graduate market in the face of a very much more challenging and competitive market situation. SUBCOMMITTEE RECESS Senator STEVENS. We will stand in recess until tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock. [Whereupon, at 12:12 p.m., Wednesday, May 19, the subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene at 10 a.m., Thursday, May 20, 1982.] |