Document created: 31 October 03
Air University Review,
January-February 1973
With a phase-down in the number of men drafted each month and a look toward the time when involuntary entry into the service will be a part of the past, some new recruiting approaches have been introduced. Additional steps are necessary, however, to attract the desired quality and quantity of personnel into the Air Force.
At present all Air Force recruits are generally treated alike regarding their selection of Air Force specialty, pay, movement of dependents and household goods, technical schooling, and on-the-job training, regardless of the skill possessed and the skill level achieved prior to enlistment. A concerted effort should be initiated to enlist men who are qualified in an Air Force-related skill. These men would be compensated for their ability by enlistment at a grade higher than E-I, plus other benefits. The cost would be offset through money saved by not having to train them.
In an address at the Air Force Recruiting Conference on 10 August 1971, Air
Force Chief of Staff General John D. Ryan said that over half of the Air Force
recruits were motivated by the draft and that for the first time
in five years the Air Force had failed to meet its year-end nonprior-service
recruiting objective.1
The current recruitment problem is not limited to quantity only, which is no longer too critical; Air Force figures show there has also been a drop in quality. In a study of more than 14,000 airmen recruited in 1970, a comparison was made of the aptitude indexes of men with high draft numbers and those with low draft numbers. It was found that the men with high draft numbers, who were assured or relatively assured of not being called, had substantially lower index scores than the men in the assured-of-being-drafted group.2 As the draft is phased out, it can he assumed that both of these problem areas, quantity and quality, will increase. To meet its manpower needs, the Air Force might be forced to look to other personnel resource areas besides the 18- and 19-year-old untrained high school graduate. Traditionally, the Air Force has drawn from the 18- and 19-year-olds and then, at considerable expense, trained them through technical schools and on-the-job training.
Briefly, the present Air Force enlistment program operates in the following manner. The prospective recruit is administered the airman qualification examination, and an aptitude index is established in each of four broad areas: electronic, mechanical, general, and administrative. If the individual achieves a qualifying score (40 or more) in one or more of the aptitude indexes, he is counseled by the recruiter on the jobs for which he has qualified. The individual may enlist in one of the AFSC’s offered under the Guaranteed AFSC Program or enlist in the broad aptitude area, with classification into a specific AFSC during basic training. Enlistment, however, is contingent upon the availability of a vacancy in the aptitude area or AFSC chosen by the applicant. After testing and selection of specialty, the recruit is sent to Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, for six weeks of basic Air Force training. After completing basic training, he is sent to a technical school or to his first duty base, where he will receive on-the-job training. While at Lackland the basic airman may take the Specialty Bypass Test and possibly forego technical training school. After graduation from technical school, he is sent to an Air Force base where be will start working in his specialty area and continue his training through on-the-job training programs.
The first-term airman’s progress through the enlisted grades is as follows: during basic training his grade is E-1; upon completion of four months’ time in service he is promoted to E-2; if he progresses normally in training, eight months later he is promoted to E-3; and after an additional 14 months he is promoted to E-4. At this point it is generally considered that he is not yet a fully productive airman. (Of course this depends to some degree on his job specialty.) However, more than half of his four-year enlistment period is over, and a considerable amount of money has been spent in teaching him a skill.
A manpower resource area that has not been fully exploited by the Air Force concerns individuals who have an Air Force-needed skill that was acquired through civilian schooling or training. In the present system of recruiting, these individuals are offered the same enlistment incentives as the unskilled person. As a result the Air Force has had little success in competing with industry for these skilled individuals. The belief that a man is not trained unless he has been trained by the Air Force is neither a valid nor a profitable one. With a few changes in Air Force regulations and some legislative action, a different path could be paved for selected individuals who have a usable skill at the time of entry into the Air Force.
It should be emphasized that the following proposal does not apply to the majority of new recruits. It is directed only toward those individuals who have received considerable training formal or otherwise, prior to enlistment. As such, it should be considered an additional recruiting program.
To illustrate how this program may work, consider a man twenty-three years old with a wife and two children. He has approximately a year of vocational schooling and three or four years of on-the-job experience. In view of the normal progression described above, would this man seriously consider entry into the Air Force? Experience indicates that he would not. However, if it were possible to determine that he had a high degree of skill in a job specialty which the Air Force needed, it would definitely be advantageous to enlist him and make proper use of his skill.
It is proposed that his basic training period at Lackland Air Force Base be shortened because of his maturity and responsibility. Following the shortened basic training, he would go to his first duty base with only enough leave time, prior to reporting, to assist in the movement of his family. Thus, shortly after his enlistment he would be a productive airman, not an airman in an expensive training program.
This proposed program would have these advantages: expenses incident to a full basic training course would be reduced; cost of attending a technical school would be eliminated; man-hours that would otherwise be expended by an on-the-job training instructor while the new airman was undergoing on-the-job training through at least the five skill level would be eliminated; and, with the exception of a few weeks in basic training, the entire enlistment period would be productive.
Up to this point it has been shown that considerable savings in both man-hours and dollars would accrue to the Air Force. But how can the Air Force attract this kind of skilled individual away from the civilian competition? Since he has more to offer than the majority of the recruits now enlisting, the incentives would have to be greater.
The first incentive area to consider would be salary; and since the military
pay system is tied to grade, an entry grade higher than E-1 would be necessary.
How much higher than E-1 would be a function of the specialty area and
demonstrated skill level. If a five-level skill were the required minimum, then
entry as an E-4 or E-5 would be appropriate. With the recent increases in base
pay and quarters allowance, plus fringe benefits and, in some specialties,
professional pay, the Air Force is becoming competitive with industry.3 Even
with these salary increases, however, it could not be expected that a
skilled worker would take a new job at a lower salary level than he can command
outside.
Identifying individuals who would qualify for enlistment at an advanced enlisted grade would not be too difficult. The Air Force already has a considerable number of tests that could be used for this purpose. For instance, the skill-level test given in the 685XO Air Force specialty to a data processing programmer could be used for testing a civilian-trained programmer after removal of all references to specifically Air Force-related questions.
In the example our prospective enlistee is married and has two children. It would be safe to assume that he has some household goods. A definite block to recruiting this man would arise if he had to move his family and household goods at his own expense. Therefore, appropriate legislative action would be required to authorize the same allowances for movement of dependents and household goods as are granted an E-4 with four years of service or an E-5 or higher grade.
An additional incentive would be an agreement, prior to enlistment, on at least the geographic area of initial assignment and preferably the first base assignment.
Points are given for time in service in the Weighted Airman Promotion System. To keep individuals of this select group competitive in the promotion cycle, an award of time-in-service credit would be necessary, for promotion purposes only. If he enlisted as an E-4, his Weighted Airman Promotion System points should reflect time in service equal to two years, which is the phase point when the average airman is promoted to E-4.
Under this proposal, it might appear that the Air Force would be giving more than it received, but when all aspects of the proposition are considered individually it is evident the Air Force would receive a fair return.
Compared to the cost of putting an enlistee through the Air Force technical
training courses appropriate to his specialty, the cost of sending an already
skilled airman through basic training and then moving him and his family to the
first duty station would be minimal. It should be noted here that the Air Force
computes the average cost of moving an airman’s family, for a permanent change
of station, at $416.4
When the total salary paid an airman over a 21½-month period as he progresses from E-1 through E-3 is compared to the total salary of an E-4 or E-5 over the same period, the difference is relatively small.
The monthly salaries in the following table include base pay (under two
years for pay), quarters (married), and subsistence allowances at the 1 January
1972 pay rate.5
E-1 $
438.90/month x 6
weeks $ 658.35
E-2 471.60/month x 8
months 3772.80
E-3 484.50/month x 12 months
5814.00
21½ months $10245.15
E-4 $ 514.20/month x 21½ months $11055.30
E-5 545.10/month x 21½
months 11719.65
$ 11055.30
- 10245.15
$ 810.15
$ 11719.65
- 10245.15
$ 1474.50
During the 21½-month period for normal progression from enlistment to E-4, the airman would earn $10,245.15. An airman who entered the Air Force as an E-4 would earn in the same period $l1,055.30; if he entered at E-5, $11,719.65. In the first instance he would earn $810.15 more, in the second instance $1,474.50 more, than the airman pursuing the normal progression. These differences equate to less than twenty percent of the average cost of many of the technical school courses.
There is another area of concern that would require attention if a program along the lines proposed here were adopted. Unless the program was strictly controlled and used only for enlistment of individuals who passed a demanding test, there would be considerable repercussion from within the enlisted ranks. Some airmen and noncommissioned officers would feel that, since they had to work and wait for each of their promotions, everyone else should do the same. However, such repercussion could be minimized by rigidly controlling the program. An obvious precedent for this program is the Airman Education and Commissioning Program (AECP), which permits an airman close to a college degree to complete his undergraduate work, obtain his degree, and then enter the Air Force as a second lieutenant.
It is interesting to note that, in light of the present attitude of the Air Force regarding where technical training is acquired, the Air Force has an ongoing program at Forbes AFB, Kansas, that gives enlisted men additional training prior to separation or retirement. This training is in areas unrelated to their Air Force-acquired skill but in trades designated by the Department of Labor as undermanned.6
With the supply of Air Force recruits diminished by a less potent draft and with the time coming when the draft will be eliminated, the personnel resource area for prospective recruits must be enlarged. If this can be coupled with the benefits of lower training costs and a longer productive period during an enlistment tour, it is definitely to the advantage of the Air Force to institute a program by which trained and experienced individuals can be recruited.
Air War College
This article has been adapted from a paper prepared by Colonel Davis as part of his academic work while a student in the 1972 class of Air War College.
Notes
1. General John D. Ryan, “Recruiting in the 1970s,” Supplement to the Air Force Policy Letter for Commanders, Department of the Air Force, Number 10-1971 (October 1971), pp.1-2.
2. “Post-Draft Decline Feared in AF Quality, Quantity,” Air Force Times, December 22, 1971, p. 8.
3. “Federal Jobs—What They’re Worth Now,” U.S. News and World Report, January 10, 1972, p. 26.
4. USAF Cost and Planning Factors, AFM 172-3, Department of the Air Force, March 31, 1971, p. 19-1.
5. “The Military Selective Service Act,” Commanders Digest, Vol. II, No. 3, Department of Defense, November 18, 1971, p. 1; “Basic Pay Rates,” Air Force Times, December 29, 1971, p.4.
6. “Skill Center Opens at Forbes Jan. 10,” Air Force Times, January 5, 1972, p. 3; “Skill Center Drops Limits,” Air Force Times, January 19, 1972, p. 8.
Lieutenant Colonel Robert W. Davis (B.S., University of Utah) is assigned to duty with the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, in the Directorate of Operations, having graduated from Air War College in 1972. Other assignments have been as Wing Weapons Officer, U.S. Air Forces, Europe; with PACAF, Takhli, Thailand; as Operations Officer, Aerospace Defense Command, Dow AFB, Maine; and Chief, Aerospace Training Branch, USAF Academy. Colonel Davis is a graduate also of Squadron Officer School and the Army Command and General Staff College.
Disclaimer
The conclusions and opinions expressed in this
document are those of the author cultivated in the freedom of expression,
academic environment of Air University. They do not reflect the official
position of the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, the United States Air
Force or the Air University.
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