Subspecialty utilization in the Navy: a longitudinal analysis of unrestricted line officers who graduate from the Naval Postgraduate School

Abstract

This thesis focuses on a cohort of unrestricted line (URL) officers who graduated from the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in 1985. The thesis begins with a description of the officers and their subspecialty codes. Patterns of subspecialty utilization are then tracked for six-to-seven years and analyzed by rank, designator, and gender. Results show that the subspecialty utilization rate (as of 1991) for the total cohort is 82.4 percent; and the rate for the Department of Administrative Sciences is 8 5.5 percent. Surface warfare officers (SWO) accounted for 41.5 percent of the 1985 cohort; and 75.4 percent met the Department of Defense (DoD) utilization guidelines. The cohort consisted mostly of men (85.9 percent), 80.7 percent of whom were utilized in compliance with DoD guidelines. Conclusions are that women tend to increase utilization rates, while SWOs and Pilots tend to suppress them. Full compliance with DoD guidelines may not be optimal or desirable. The future role of women in the military may decrease utilization rates. Recommendations are offered to improve methods of tracking officers and possibly raise current rates of subspecialty utilization.