Recruiting for joint active/reserve tours

Abstract

The US Army reserve components have traditionally drawn about half of their annual accessions from individuals with prior active-duty experience. The military drawdown will substantially reduce this pool of trained, experienced personnel available to the reserves and create reserve manning difficulties. This study describes the effects of a national experiment on a new Army recruiting program that recruits individuals for joint active/reserve tours. The so-called “2 + 2 + 4” recruiting option expands eligibility for the Army's post-service educational benefit to include recruits entering two-year, active-duty tours in selected noncombat occupational specialties, provided they agree to serve an additional two years in the Selected Reserve and approximately four years in the Individual Ready Reserve. The findings indicate that the 2 + 2 + 4 program expanded the market for high-quality male recruits by about 3 percent. The program did not shift a large number of recruits away from longer terms of service and helped channel recruits into selected, hard-to-fill noncombat specialties. The program should provide substantial reserve benefits, because the educational benefits are tied to individual participation in a reserve unit.