The attrition rate at DLI

Abstract

The primary purpose of this research is to identify if a correlation exists between the U.S. Army selection procedure for enlisted soldiers in the ranks of E-1 through E-4 attending the Defense Language Institute and the academic outcome. This thesis focuses on two specific concepts: (1) how the U.S. Army currently identifies those soldiers to be trained as Russian linguists; and (2) whether the Army needs to incorporate changes to its current identification procedures currently used to select soldiers to attend the Russian linguist course at Defense Language Institute, Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) are examined. A comparison is then made with the soldiers ability to successfully complete the courses in which enrolled. The purpose is to identify the causes that influence attrition. Secondly, this study analyzes the enrollment data produced by DLIFLC to determine if any reliable correlation exists between the current linguist identification procedures and the success or failure of soldiers enrolled in the Russian language course.