The Use of a Peacetime GI Bill as a Recruiting and Retention Incentive

In response to a congressional request, GAO discussed whether a peacetime GI bill could overcome recruitment and retention problems in a cost-effective manner and assessed two Senate bills, S. 1747 and S. 1873, which address this question. GAO believes that, before incentives for military recruitment and retention can be properly evaluated, manpower problems and needs should be identified and solutions proposed that specifically address these problems. The incentives selected should be cost effective and efficient. GAO expressed concern with certain provisions of S. 1747 that: (1) allow any eligible military member to attend school, thus potentially reducing the size of a trained military force; (2) permit the act to become effective without an assessment of the impact of the proposed benefits upon retention or recruiting; (3) provide for pay-as-you-go funding which could keep costs from appearing in the budget for several years; and (4) require general, rather than specific, reporting on the effectiveness of the program. GAO does support the provision of S. 1747 which requires that its cost be contained in the Defense budget. GAO noted that S. 1873 is less complex than S. 1747 and that its primary advantage is its requirement that the Department of Defense evaluate the cost-effective structure for the educational assistance program.