Management and Use of Army Enlisted Personnel

For many years, the Army relied on the draft to acquire a large, continuing supply of new personnel. Since the draft ended, it has pursued an aggressive program to recruit volunteers, paying bonuses to enlistees for critically needed skills. Although the Army has shortages of enlisted personnel in critically needed skills, it has substantial numbers of individuals qualified in those skills. It has had problems in maintaining an inventory of personnel with skills to match its needs. The Army needs a workable system for distributing, assigning, using, and accounting for its personnel.

Army personnel management policies, regulations, and instructions need to be made more specific to guide officials at headquarters and field installations in attaining the most effective distribution, assignment, and use of enlisted personnel practicable. The Army's combat mission capability has priority, but its peacetime role and demands on personnel are important. Headquarters has not officially recognized that its personnel management policies and instructions must also serve peacetime needs. There is little or no peacetime need for some authorized positions in garrison, but some garrison needs that do exist are not always met. The personnel distribution and assignment system often does not get the right people to the right place at the right time. In the absence of standard procedures, each installation manager must, to some extent, apply his own techniques and judgment to the allocation of skilled personnel.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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