Factors affecting the organizational commitment of junior officers in the U.S. Air Force

Abstract

The thesis attempts to explain the organizational commitment of the junior military officer in the Air Force. The data set was divided in two groups: officers with more than four but less than or equal to five years of active service and officers with more than seven but less than or equal to ten years of active duty. The effects of satisfaction with military life on turnover were analyzed using linear regression: satisfaction with military life was initially included in a set of selected candidate variables which were regressed with intended years of service beyond obligation as the dependent variable. then, discriminant analysis was undertaken to investigate the influence of measures of military versus civilian comparative job satisfaction on the long-term career decision and the short-term turnover decision. A final regression model was tested using satisfaction with military life as the dependent variable and the set of variables representing the perception of alternative job opportunities in the civilian sector as candidate explanatory variable. Knowledge of the relative influence of the several variables analyzed in this study will provide manpower planners with useful information to evaluate the extent to which personnel policies may be successful in managing the problem of junior officer retention.