EFFECTS OF PREFERRED DUTY STATION ASSIGNMENT ON THE PERFORMANCE AND RETENTION OF USMC PERSONNEL

Abstract

In 2019, the Commandant of the Marine Corps stated in his planning guidance that “we should use money like a focused weapon, and aim it at the exact individual we need.” In response to this call for targeted talent management reform, I use FITREP duty station preference and performance data to conduct fixed effects difference-in-differences and survival analysis to examine how assignment to a desired duty station affects the future performance and retention of Marines. Results indicate that enlisted Marines who are assigned to desired duty stations early in their careers on average perform .232 points higher on their FITREPs relative to Marines who are not. Top-tier performers who receive desired orders perform .336 better than their counterparts, and Marines who request and are assigned to the operating forces outperformed peers by 0.537. Assignment to desired duty stations is also highly correlated with the retention of top-performing officers. These are the Marines we need and want fighting our nation’s wars, both on the ground and at the strategic level, and results indicate that preferential duty station assignment has a particularly positive impact on them. In his guidance, the Commandant also states that “an incentives-based model would offer the ability to target incentives to specific individuals the Service wants to retain.” The results of this research indicate that preferential duty station assignment has the potential to do just that.