An analysis of Naval officers serving on joint duty: the impact of the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Act

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to examine trends in the quality of officers assigned to joint duty and analyze the effect of joint assignments on an officer's career. This study examines officers appearing before the 1988-1994 Commander and Captain promotion boards. Results of cross tabulations indicate qualitative differences between officers receiving the JS2 before and after 1 October 1989. Officers receiving the JS2 after 1 October 1989 demonstrated significantly higher performance (as measured by fitness report data) than officers receiving a JS2 prior to 1 October 1989. Officers receiving the JS5 were of higher quality than average, regardless of the date of the AQD. This study also examines the effects of joint duty on an officer's likelihood of promotion, and compares the results across four warfare communities: SWO, SUB, PILOT, and NFO. The results indicate that SWOs and NFOs receiving a JS2 designator prior to 1989 have a lower probability of promotion to Commander. Conversely, SWOs receiving a JS2 designator after 1 October 1989 have a significantly higher probability of promotion to Commander. The effect of a JS2 on promotion to Captain is largely statistically insignificant. The effect of a JS5 on promotion to Commander is positive for SWOs appearing before the 1990-94 promotion boards and NFOs appearing before the 1988-90 promotion boards. The effect of a JS5 on promotion to Captain is positive for SWOs appearing before the 1988-90 promotion boards, and for Pilots appearing before all Captain promotion boards.