Blair, John D.
Phillips, Robert L.
Job Satisfaction Among Youth in Military and Civilian Work Settings
Armed Forces and Society 9,4 (Summer 1983): 555-568.
Also: http://afs.sagepub.com/content/9/4/555.full.pdf+html
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces & Society
Keyword(s): Attrition; Job Satisfaction; Military Personnel; Military Training; Racial Differences;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This article examines whether the hypothesized changes in the U.S. military from an institution to an occupation have resulted in a normal organizational setting for young military "workers." Of particular concern are those organizational experiences that reflect social dimensions beyond the monetary aspect of work. The findings reported in this article indicated that in many ways American youth do not regard the military as a normal organizational work setting. That is, there are significant differences in average evaluations of non-monetary as well as monetary aspects of the job, although there is also considerable overlap in the assessments of young people. Although this overlap indicates that the military is a generally convergent work setting, nevertheless it is not a particularly attractive one. Postenlistment reality for many military "workers" turns out to be much worse than they had expected, and thus serious organizational dysfunctions such as high attrition rates might be predicted. In addition, greater dissatisfaction among service personnel relative to their civilian counterparts in the labor market can be expected to reduce the propensity for military service in the upcoming cohort (given an assumption of at least a degree of inter-cohort communication). The less satisfactory quality of work life that is reported by youth in the military may be a major reason for high attrition rates, for lower than expected propensities for military service, and for differences in recruiting success for certain jobs within a service.

Bouffard, Leana Allen
The Military as a Bridging Environment in Criminal Careers: Differential Outcomes of the Military Experience
Armed Forces and Society 31,2 (Winter 2005): 273-295.
Also: http://afs.sagepub.com/content/31/2/273.abstract
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces & Society
Keyword(s): Behavior, Violent; Black Studies; Crime; Military Service; Racial Differences;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Little research has examined the relationship between military service and criminal behavior, and what few studies exist have included a basic comparison of a group of men with military service and a group without service. This strategy fails to consider how the military experience may differ for different individuals. This study examines whether the relationship between military service and criminal behavior depends on sociodemographic characteristics. Results from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth suggest that, during the first few years of the all-volunteer force, some groups do appear to become involved in more violent offending after entering the military. On the other hand, military service may reduce the risk of violence for some groups, such as African Americans, Thus, the influence of military service on later offending does appear to depend on individual characteristics. In addition, this was a unique time in military history, and results may vary by historical period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fredland, John Eric
Little, Roger D.
Educational Levels, Aspirations and Expectations of Military and Civilian Males, Ages 18-22
Armed Forces and Society 10,2 (Winter 1984): 211-228.
Also: http://afs.sagepub.com/content/10/2/211.full.pdf+html
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces & Society
Keyword(s): All-Volunteer Force (AVF); Educational Attainment; Hispanics; Military Personnel; Military Service; Racial Differences; Work Attitudes;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Based on the 1979 data from the NLSY, this article examines differences between 18-22 year-old servicemen and males of the same cohort who have never served with respect to three dimensions of manpower quality: educational levels, aspirations, and expectations. Blacks, whites and Hispanics are considered separately. Blacks and whites are also disaggregated by branch of service in some analyses. Two purposes are served. First, information on these three dimensions provides insight into the quality of those who serve in comparison with those who do not. Educational level is the most often cited quality measure in the debate over the efficacy of the all-volunteer force. Second, educational aspirations and expectations are also a measure of quality but, in addition, are valuable in assessing the utility of postservice educational programs as a recruiting attraction. It was found that, among whites, the military group has less education than the civilian group; however, the military group contains more high school graduates. Further, when the samples are confined to those having 12 or fewer years of education, the military group averages more education. Finally, because the sample is truncated at age 22, and because military service is an alternative to more schooling, the finding of a greater mean educational level for the civilian group is not surprising. In short, if amount of education is taken as an index of intellectual ability, it is difficult to argue that the military attracts much lower-quality whites than the average. It is particularly difficult to argue that the quality of white servicemen is lower than average, when the civilian group excludes those who have gone on directly from high school to college and graduate school. The results for blacks and Hispanics are much clearer. Blacks and Hispanics who enlist are (as of 1979) clearly superior to the average of their age group, when educational level is the criterion of quality. The most interesting results of this study concern educational aspirations and expectations. It was found that whites, blacks, and Hispanics in the military desire, on average, significantly more years of schooling than their civilian counterparts. Also, the servicemen, on average, actually expect to complete more years of schooling. These results hold even when the civilian group includes those who have gone on directly from high school to college, and they prevail more dramatically when the college group is excluded. They also obtain in the context of a multivariate model.

Gorman, Linda
Thomas, George W.
General Intellectual Achievement, Enlistment Intentions, and Racial Representativeness in the U.S. Military
Armed Forces and Society 19,4 (Summer 1993): 611-624.
Also: http://afs.sagepub.com/content/19/4/611.abstract
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces & Society
Keyword(s): I.Q.; Intelligence; Military Enlistment; Poverty; Racial Studies; Test Scores/Test theory/IRT; Variables, Independent - Covariate;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

racial composition of those who want to join the military reflects that of the general population. Using a sample of young men from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, this article examines the effects of four different specifications of the independent variables race, poverty status, high school enrollment, age, and test score on an individual's enlistment intentions. The coefficient estimates were maximum likelihood estimates of a logistic regression model with an ordinal dependent variable. The results suggest that enlistment intentions depend heavily on intellectual achievement and poverty as well as race, and that models ignoring this may attribute false importance to the effects of race on intentions to enlist.

Hosek, James R.
Antel, John J.
Peterson, Christine E.
Who Stays, Who Leaves? Attrition Among First-Term Enlistees
Armed Forces and Society 15,3 (Spring 1989): 389-409.
Also: http://afs.sagepub.com/content/15/3/389.abstract
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces & Society
Keyword(s): Attrition; Military Enlistment; Military Service;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Since the advent of US voluntary military service, some 30% of each enlisting cohort have left before completing their first term, & attrition rates remain near this level even though over 90% of recent cohorts are high school graduates. Here, individual-level data from 1979 national surveys of enlistees & working youths & Defense Dept manpower data through 1984 are used to analyze attrition among high school graduates who enlisted in spring 1979. To control for selectivity bias, enlistment is analyzed jointly with attrition. Three variables observable at the time of enlistment are found to have a strong negative effect on attrition: positive expectations of further education, months in the Delayed Entry Program, & employment stability. No evidence of selectivity bias is found for this cohort; hence, results are applicable not only to enlistees but also to prospects. Policy implications are discussed. 1 Table, 2 Figures. Modified HA (Copyright 1990, Sociological Abstracts, Inc., all rights reserved.)

Little, Roger D.
Fredland, John Eric
Veteran Status, Earnings, and Race: Some Long Term Results
Armed Forces and Society 5,2 (February 1979): 244-260.
Also: http://afs.sagepub.com/content/5/2/244.full.pdf+html
Cohort(s): Older Men
Publisher: Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces & Society
Keyword(s): All-Volunteer Force (AVF); Earnings; Employment; Job Tenure; Life Cycle Research; Military Service; Veterans;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This article reports on the long term results of military service by focusing on groups of veterans, disaggregated by race, approximately twenty years after their military service in World War II and immediately thereafter. Separate statistical analysis was performed for whites, for blacks, and for non-whites. Results show that veteran status positively affected the l966 earnings of all three groups examined. The authors suggest that the substantial earnings premiums to minority veterans, most of whom are at the right age to be fathers of recent and present enlistees in the all-volunteer force, may help to explain why minorities are joining the military service in disproportionately large numbers. The authors also suggest that the sizes of the l966 earnings premiums may indicate life-cycle benefits to veterans.

Mangum, Stephen L.
Ball, David E.
Military Skill Training: Some Evidence of Transferability
Armed Forces and Society 13,3 (Spring 1987): 425-441.
Also: http://afs.sagepub.com/content/13/3/425.abstract
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces & Society
Keyword(s): Gender Differences; Military Training; Skills; Training; Transfers, Skill;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Using data from the NLSY, this study examines the skill transferability of military-provided training to civilian employment. With other factors controlled, males were most readily able to transfer training in the service, craft, and equipment repair occupations, while transfer percentages for females were greatest in the traditional occupational stronghold of administrative/functional support. Analysis of skill transfer between nonmilitary training providers and employment showed that the occupational areas offering the greatest probability of skill transfer were similar to those that emerged in the analysis of military training. For males, the probability of skill transfer for those trained by the military was significantly lower than that for those in apprenticeship and employer-provided training programs, but not significantly different from that associated with training through vocational/technical institutes, proprietary business colleges, and so forth. Females involved in employer- provided training, apprenticeships, nursing programs, or beauty school programs were more likely to find jobs in the occupation for which they were trained than were those receiving training in the military. Key in explaining these differences may be the presence of internal labor-market mechanisms, which facilitate the transition from training to work in some institutional settings. Analysis of this data set leaves little reason to doubt the viability of the military as a training provider offering linkages to the civilian work world.

Shields, Patricia M.
Enlistment During the Vietnam Era and the 'Representation' Issue of the All- Volunteer Force
Armed Forces and Society 7,1 (Fall 1980): 133-151.
Also: http://afs.sagepub.com/content/7/1/133.full.pdf+html
Cohort(s): Young Men
Publisher: Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces & Society
Keyword(s): Children; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; I.Q.; Military Enlistment; Schooling; Socioeconomic Status (SES); Unemployment; Vietnam War;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This research represents an attempt to study enlistment in the Armed Forces during the Vietnam era. For the first time enlistment is compared by race using panel data. On the whole, white enlistment seems responsive to institutional factors, civilian wages, the local unemployment rate, and draft pressure. The rate of black enlistment seems to respond to geographic region of residence, draft pressure, socioeconomic status, and mental ability. The results suggest that blacks tend to choose the armed forces to escape the draft and (at least temporarily) as a substitute for the civilian labor market.