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How Much Military Get Paid – A drill sergeant with the 2nd Battalion, 48th Infantry Regiment welcomes a new soldier to Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. (Stephen Standiford/Army)
While most new recruits are satisfied with their overall military experience so far, many of them would appreciate it if their recruiters were more honest.
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That’s one finding from “Life as a Private,” a Rand Corp. study. published on May 13, which surveyed several dozen soldiers about their reasons for joining the Army and their experiences so far.
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“Many recruiters perform admirably, but others may paint an unrealistic picture of the day-to-day lives of soldiers, thereby creating unusually high expectations,” according to the study’s introduction.
Overwhelmingly, researchers found that most young soldiers were influenced by their families to join, enjoyed their time in the military, and planned to eventually leave and pursue a civilian career.
“I think it’s interesting,” Secretary of the Army Mark Esper told Army Times on May 16 about the study’s findings. “I think you have to know what this generation is about — what motivates them, what drives them to serve.”
But leaders have warned that the military is becoming a family business, with the vast majority of new recruits carrying on a family tradition. While a solid recruiting base, there are fears that with the overall decline in military service, recruiting exclusively from military families limits the background, education and life experience of potential service members.
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“There are some new and some old. The senior is family is the biggest influencer on these young people,” Esper said. “So it’s important as we think about recruiting, we have to talk to the families as well.”
So in a somewhat tight recruiting environment at a time when the Army is trying to grow, Rand researchers set out to provide the service with some insight and guidance on how to approach the kind of recruits it’s looking for.
“The Army continues to pursue improvements in the recruiting process to avoid periodic declines in the quality and quantity of recruits,” the study said.
Army Pvt. Joshua Finau takes aim before throwing a grenade during basic training at Fort Jackson, S.C., Sept. 19, 2015. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Ken Scarr
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A team of researchers interviewed 81 soldiers from privates to specialists in six career fields — infantry, armor, artillery, medical, maintenance and supply — assigned to their first units at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Fort Drum, New York, Fort Riley, Kansas and Fort Hood, Texas.
There they asked the new soldiers — 70 men and 11 women, averaging between 19 and 21 years old, with more than 60 percent high school graduates and about a third with at least some college experience — about why they joined, what they expected from their service, what their experience was so far and when they planned to have a career in the military or move on.
“Participants regularly identified relatives who had served in the military, and many suggested that family history critically influenced their decision to join,” the study says. “A call to service and notions of honor mingled with a desire for new adventures and assumed benefit calculations and steady wages.”
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Once they finished basic training and reported to their first units, the new soldiers reported a less exciting reality of day-to-day life in the garrison.
“Many of these same soldiers expressed frustration with the bureaucratic nature of working in the military. For example, some soldiers complained that they could not perform the tasks they were trained for during Basic Combat Training (BCT) and Advanced Individual Training (AIT),” the study found. “Others expressed frustration with boredom, lack of field training time, and performing tasks unrelated to their professions. some soldiers wanted more development opportunities.’
While many had joined to move up from dead-end jobs for steady pay and benefits, there was a general feeling that they wanted to get down and do the job they had spent so much time learning.
“I was very encouraged by the fact that … a lot of them join the military because they want to train and go into the field and grow, and that’s counterproductive for a lot of people,” Esper said. “But I have also seen it in my travels. Soldiers want to go deploy, they want to go to Kuwait, they want to go to Afghanistan, they want to do those kinds of things.”
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Unfortunately, the researchers found, some were greeted with a different reality of what their lives would be like after training.
“Many recruiters perform admirably, but others may paint an unrealistic picture of the day-to-day lives of soldiers, thereby creating unusually high expectations,” the study says. “A steady diet of World War II action movies can also leave a prospective soldier uninformed about modern military life.”
The recruiter grooming stereotype is alive and well, according to the study. “I’ve probably said this about five times already, but the expectation was to work with other soldiers, taking care of their medical needs. … But all I … did … was pure CONEX [container express] and trucks. I understand that these are things that need to be done, but it’s literally all I’ve done, and I sit from 0900 to 1700,” one doctor told investigators. Units are considering 10-hour work days and Saturday duty to meet 2018 goals. By Meghann Myers That sentiment was similar among other combat MOSs. “I thought it was going to be… very high speed, just a high tempo all the time. Most of the time it’s a lot of sitting around, waiting for something to happen, or sitting, waiting for another person to complete their vehicle mission or clean the motor vehicle pool,” said one artilleryman. On the other hand, some support soldiers were surprised by the culture. “I thought it would be more relaxed, honestly. … I knew [Basic and AIT] would be bad, but when I got here it’s basically the same thing … mostly young NCOs [NCOs] and people who are full of power in their heads,” said one supply soldier. The investigators recommended that the Army consider these complaints at the enlistment level. “Many recruiters offered genuine assistance to Soldiers seeking Army employment, but other recruiters (and recruiting materials) appeared to oversell an MOS and had overly high expectations for entering Soldiers,” according to the study. “Although one-third of participants said their MOS met or exceeded expectations, other Soldiers were frustrated with aspects of their career specialty choices, complaining of boredom, lack of field time, and having to perform non-military-related tasks. their professions”. ‘Bonds and camaraderie’ However, despite these negative feelings, respondents overwhelmingly rated their military careers as positive and said they would recommend other young people in their situation to enlist. “Oh yeah. … The longer I stay in this job, the more I feel like I’m made for this, I can do this,” said one shooter. “I mean, it’s just a state of mind, you’ve got to have the right mindset. But yeah, somebody like me, all day, every day, I’d tell them to join right away.”And more than anything else, Soldiers reported that it was the friends they made in their unit that affirmed their choice to join the Army. After controversy over waiver, Army to evaluate troops’ mental health history on a case-by-case basis Army Secretary Mark Esper wants to make sure experts take a holistic approach when evaluating a waiver for something that might otherwise prohibit a potential soldier from the service. Meghann Myers “… my whole team. … We all talk to each other, say how we’re doing, how life’s going. After that, my leadership will ask me about shake every day, hi, how am I doing, I’m doing good, okay,” said an armored soldier. “Then every other day, my drill sergeant would ask me how I’m doing, how do you like it, it’s like a little bit of a peek at what’s going on. You never ask yourself, why doesn’t anyone care? Everyone cares there, because we’re all a team, we’ll all take care of each other.” The military should take that into account, according to the study, in its recruiting efforts. Despite the struggles, most soldiers reported a strong support group and social life within their units and, “most critically, report that their commanders, NCOs, and peers “care more” about their well-being. These social ties can be leveraged to support recruitment or retention.” While most had questioned their decision to enlist and were generally unsure if they intended to pursue a career
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