Options for Filling Vacant Officer Positions
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Options for Filling Vacant Officer Positions Roland J. Yardley, Harry J. Thie, M. Wade Markel, Thomas Manacapilli, Joseph Jenkins Prepared for the Office of the Secretary of Defense Approved for public release; distribution unlimited NATIONAL DEFENSE RESEARCH INSTITUTE The research described in this report was prepared for the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). The research was conducted in the RAND National Defense Research Institute, a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the OSD, the Joint Staff, the Unified Combatant Commands, the Department of the Navy, the Marine Corps, the defense agencies, and the defense Intelligence Community under Contract W74V8H-06-C-0002. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Options for filling vacant officer positions / Roland J. Yardley ... [et al.]. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8330-5058-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. United States—Armed Forces—Officers—Supply and demand. I. Yardley, Roland J. UB413.O65 2010 355.6'1—dc22 2010050309 The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND’s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. R® is a registered trademark. © Copyright 2010 RAND Corporation Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Copies may not be duplicated for commercial purposes. Unauthorized posting of RAND documents to a non-RAND website is prohibited. RAND documents are protected under copyright law. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit the RAND permissions page (http://www.rand.org/publications/ permissions.html). Published 2010 by the RAND Corporation 1776 Main Street, P.O. Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138 1200 South Hayes Street, Arlington, VA 22202-5050 4570 Fifth Avenue, Suite 600, Pittsburgh, PA 15213-2665 RAND URL: http://www.rand.org To order RAND documents or to obtain additional information, contact Distribution Services: Telephone: (310) 451-7002; Fax: (310) 451-6915; Email: [email protected] Preface The military services and combatant commanders have officer vacancies on their staffs. That is, funded officer manpower authorizations (or billets) are unfilled. When this occurs, orga- nizational performance and mission readiness can suffer. The RAND Corporation was asked to determine whether the “personnel fill” of funded but vacant military manpower billets could be improved (or at least not degraded) through the use of alternative mixes of military manpower categories, thereby improving organizational performance while possibly also mini- mizing the cost of manpower. This report reviews particular selected occupations in each of the services, considers extant Department of Defense (DoD) military manpower policy, and assesses alternative mixes of military manpower against criteria developed to determine feasi- bility. The report should be of interest to the military manpower community. Comments are welcome and may be sent to Roland J. Yardley at [email protected] or to Harry J. Thie at [email protected]. This research was sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense and conducted within the Forces and Resources Policy Center of the RAND National Defense Research Insti- tute, a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the Office of the Sec- retary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the Unified Combatant Commands, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the defense agencies, and the defense Intelligence Community. For more information on the RAND Forces and Resources Center, see http://www.rand. org/nsrd/about/frp.html or contact the Director (contact information is provided on the web page). iii Contents Preface ........................................................................................................... iii Figures ...........................................................................................................vii Tables ............................................................................................................ ix Summary ........................................................................................................ xi Abbreviations ...................................................................................................xv Acknowledgments ........................................................................................... xvii CHAPTER ONE Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1 Objective and Approach ......................................................................................... 2 Organization of This Report .................................................................................... 3 CHAPTER TWO Officer Vacancies, Service Manpower Approaches, and Current Manpower Policy ............... 5 Officer Vacancies ................................................................................................. 5 Service Manpower Approaches ................................................................................. 5 Current Manpower Policy ...................................................................................... 6 Limited Policy on Military Manpower Mix .................................................................. 7 Positions for Military Personnel ................................................................................ 7 CHAPTER THREE An Evolving Enlisted Force ..................................................................................11 Changing Environments and the Need for Alternative Manpower Strategies ...........................11 Legacy Manpower ............................................................................................12 Environmental Factors .......................................................................................12 Enlisted and Warrant Officer/Limited-Duty Officer Educational Attainment .........................13 Enlisted Experience .............................................................................................15 The Enlisted-to-Officer Ratio..................................................................................16 The Changing Nature of Military Work .....................................................................16 Warrant Officers, Limited-Duty Officers, and Civilians ...................................................17 Warrant Officers ..............................................................................................18 Limited-Duty Officers ........................................................................................19 Civilians ........................................................................................................19 Examples of Enlisted Personnel and Warrant Officers Performing Work Traditionally Done by Line Officers ........................................................................................... 20 v vi Options for Filling Vacant Officer Positions CHAPTER FOUR Criteria to Evaluate Alternative Manpower Options ....................................................21 Criteria to Assess Manpower Alternatives ................................................................... 24 Alternative Manpower Options to Be Considered ....................................................... 24 Secondary Criteria ........................................................................................... 27 CHAPTER FIVE Application of Criteria to Selected Occupations .........................................................31