Social, economic and behavioral differences among enlisted personnel based on age at service entry

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis was to examine the behavior of non- prior service personnel in the military based on age at service entry. Crosstabulation and Multiple Classification Analysis were used to study historical data on naval personnel supplied by the Defense Manpower Data Center, Monterey and survey information of DoD personnel gathered by the Rand Corporation in 1978. Areas of study included mental aptitude, length of service, contract preference, occupational choice, first-term attrition, dependent status, military compensation, reenlistment and reserve entry intent. Perceptions of civilian employment, race relations, promotion and military life were also investigated. Differences between entry age cohorts were found in the areas of recruit quality and first-term retention.