Citation

Smith MM. Defence economics 1991; 2(4): 313-324.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1991, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/10430719108404705

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Recent events both nationally and internationally have caused a rethinking of our military posture. Most notable among them are domestic budgetary pressures associated with deficit reduction efforts and arms control negotiations in the wake of a possible declining threat from the Soviets. Taken together, these events signal a smaller military force in the future. One method that the Department of Defense might rely on to assist in future force reduction is to decrease the number of officers accessed (i.e. commissioned) each year. In order to utilize this option efficiently, a comparative analysis of the various commissioning sources (such as the three service academies, the Reserve Officer Training Corps, and the Officer Candidate School/Officer Training School) would be instructive. This paper presents an empirical investigation of the various officer procurement programs. The study focuses on the return on investment of the various procurement sources in terms of service obligations as well as the retention and performance trends for officers produced by the various procurement programs.