The convergence of military and civilian occupational structures: evidence from studies of military retired employment.

Abstract

The military personnel structure depends upon the majority of its members being forced to leave the service not later than at ages ordinarily considered as the middle of working life. Economic and psychological factors require most military retirees to seek a "second career." The assumptions on which military retirement policies are based-the ready transfer of military skills and credentials to the civilian environment-have operated satisfactorily in most cases. We suspect that this has been possible only because of changes in both the military and the civilian occupational structures which make them now resemble each other more closely than was the case in the past. The growing salience of the problem of satisfactory "second-career" transition for military personnel may accentuate"civilianizing" trends in the military. Some implications of "civilianization" of the military are discussed along with qualms that have been voiced regarding the militarization" of civilian institutions.