Department of the Army Historical Summary: FY 1984

7

Personnel

The demands of force modernization, consequent introduction of new equipment into units, and the disparity in conventional forces between the U.S. and the Soviet Union demanded that the Army recruit and retain more highly qualified personnel.

Military Strength

At the close of FY 84, the total Active Army strength exceeded the programmed strength of 780,000 by 180 persons. The average strength in terms of man-years was 782,200. (See Table 23.)

TABLE 23 - TOTAL ACTIVE ARMY STRENGTH

   Programmed    Actual    Difference
Officer    108,412    107,883    -529
Enlisted    667,169    6671711    +542
Cadet    4,419    4,586    +167
Total    780,000    780,180    +180

 

Enlisted Personnel

Total Army recruiting succeeded in FY 84 as the U.S. Army Recruiting Command (Active Army and Army Reserve) and the In-Service Recruiting Program (Army Reserve) met their total accession objectives, while the ARNG met its objectives only partially during the year. Table 24 provides a breakdown of recruiting statistics.

TABLE 24 - FY 84 RECRUITING STATISTICS
Production

   NPS (M)    NPS (F)    PS    Total
Active Army  
MSN    114,164    17,189    10,400    141,753
ACH    114,511    17,191    10,614    142,316
Percent    100.3    100.0    102.1    100.4

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TABLE 24 - FY 84 RECRUITING STATISTICS - Continued
Production

   NPS (M)    NPS (F)    PS    Total
USAR  
     MSN    26,375    8,100    27,650    62,125
     ACH    22,732    5,806    33,373    61,911
     Percent    86.2    71.7    120.7    99.7
ISR TPU  
     MSN          7,000    7,000
     ACH          7,585    7,585
     Percent          108.4    108.4
ARGN  
     MSN    54,000    6,000    50,000    110,000
     ACH    43,345    2,824    39,371    85,540
     Percent    80.3    47.1    78.7    77.8

Recruiting success is measured not only quantitatively but also qualitatively. Fiscal year 1984 proved to be highly successful in this regard. Congress defined quality recruits as those scoring above the 50th percentile on the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) and having at least a high school diploma. Congress also restricted substandard accessions by allowing no more than 20 percent of male recruits to score below the 30th percentile (Test Category IV) while insisting that at least 65 percent of all non-prior service male accessions must be high school graduates. The Army applied these criteria to all three of its components and established goals beyond those mandated by Congress. Moreover, the Army implemented yet another qualitative yardstick by establishing the objective of obtaining 63 percent of its non-prior service recruits from those applicants who scored in the upper half of the AFQT tested population (AFQT Category I-III A). These recruits would serve as the Army's source of future NCOs. The following table gives detailed figures on recruit quality. During FY 84, the Active Army finished putting into operation the concept of distributing quality recruits to all military occupational specialties while the Reserve began implementation. By 30 September 1984, 272 of 331, Regular Army MOS or 82.2 percent, met or exceeded their Test Category I-III A target floors, while 297 or 89.7 percent met or fell below their Test Category IV target ceilings. (See Table 25.)

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TABLE 25 - QUALITY OF RECRUITS

   % NPS TC I-III A    % NPS HSDG    % NPS TC IV
Active Army  
MSN    63.0    90.0    10.0
ACH    63.4    90.8    10.2
USAR  
MSN    57.5    75.5    12.7
ACH    50.4    77.1    11.8
ARNG  
MSN    1 No Data    68.5    12.0
ACH    1 No Data    69.0    6.9

1 ARNG did not account for I-III A separate from IIB.

The Army increased its emphasis on retention of quality soldiers. The first priority of the program was the assignment of troops to the Reserve Troop Program Units. Next was the enlistment of soldiers without military obligation into the IRR. The last priority was the referral of personnel to National Guard recruiters in the various states. (See Table 26.)

 

TABLE 26 - IN-SERVICE RECRUITING PROGRAM

   Target    % Fill    Assignments
Troop Program Units    1 7,000    108    7,585
IRR    4,200    158    6,636
ARNG Referral    9,400    218    20,492

1 Raised from 5,500 in April.

In FY 84, the Army continued to recruit COHORT units for the New Manning System. The COHORT concept of keeping personnel together in a unit throughout their enlistment increased cohesion, esprit de corps, and teamwork. During FY 84, the Army filled all of its programmed units (45 infantry, armor, and field artillery units with a minimum aggregate strength of 3,693 recruits) at or above 100 percent.

The Army employed a similar concept to recruit combat support and combat service support military occupational specialties for airborne assignments. Soldiers recruited for designated airborne platoons served together through basic training, AIT, and airborne school. After finishing their training, the soldiers sepa-

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rated from the platoon and reported to their first duty stations. The trainers benefited from the increased buddy support and teamwork to overcome Initial Entry Training stress. The Army programmed 56 airborne platoons with a minimum aggregate strength of 2,585 recruits and filled 53 at or over 100 percent and achieved 105.5 percent of the aggregate file requirement.

Reenlistment bonuses and the worldwide institution of bonuses worth up to $8,000 were used for retention. The Army also opened the loan repayment program to all skills in June 1984.

Table 27 provides historical and forecast attrition rates for the period FY 78 through FY 84.

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TABLE 27 - THREE YEAR FIRST TERM ATTRITION RATES 1

Sex    Education Level    Mental Category    2 FY 78    2 FY 79    2 FY 80    2 FY 81    1 FY82    3 FY 83    3 FY 84
Male    HSDG    All    25.8    25.7    27.3    28.2    29.7    28.3    27.0
Male    NHSDG    All    45.8    46.8    51.4    52.5    52.8    51.6    50.8
Male    All    All    31.9    34.5    39.9    33.8    33.8    31.9    30.0
Female    HSDG    All    44.6    44.6    46.6    46.0    43.8    42.8    41.5
Female    NHSDG    All    55.2    (4)    66.2    66.1    NA    NA    NA
Female    All    All    45.2    44.7    49.4    47.4    43.8    42.8    41.5
Male    HSDG    I-IIIA    25.6    25.3    27.4    28.3    29.2    27.5    26.2
Male    HSDG    IIIB-V    25.6    26.0    27.4    28.6    30.3    29.0    27.5
Male    HSDG   IV    26.9    25.8    26.9    27.6    30.0    29.7    28.7
Male    NHSDG    I-IIIA    46.7    46.1    51.0    52.4    52.6    51.4    51.2
Male    NHSDG    IIIB-V    44.6    47.2    51.6    52.3    53.0    52.6    (4)
Female    HSDG    I-IIIA    44.5    44.8    48.8    47.8    44.9    43.2    41.9
Female    HSDG    IIIB-V    46.4    44.0    44.5    44.6    41.8    41.5    40.4
Female    NHSDG    I-IIIA    55.2    (4)    66.4    66.2    NA    NA    NA
Total      33.8    35.9    41.3    36.1    35.1    33.3    31.5

1 Term 3 and Term 4 Accessions only.
2 Historical Rate. Source: ELIM-COMPLIP, as of ME Apr 85.
3 Forecasted Rate. Source: ELIM-COMPLIP, as of ME Apr 85.
4 Represents an insignificant percentage of the accession cohort population.
NA = Loss rates probably not representative.

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In response to General Accounting Office criticisms, the Army implemented Force Alignment Plan I in the second quarter of fiscal year 1982 to end NCO shortages in certain career management fields (combat arms, intelligence, and electronic warfare). Through FY 84, the Force Alignment Plan reduced these shortages both in the aggregate and within each of the thirty career management fields. During FY 84 the Army met its NCO requirement in the aggregate, by grade, and within most of the career management fields.

The Army initiated the Civilian Substitution Program to stabilize military end strength and increase readiness by releasing soldiers to perform duties within their units. Without increasing the Active military end strength, the Army improved its modernization and readiness programs by channeling military personnel back into the force structure. In FY 84, the Civilian Substitution Program converted 1,967 military positions into civilian positions and programmed further conversions through FY 88.

Effective 12 July 1984, the Army assigned responsibility to the U.S. Army Manpower Requirements and Documentation Agency, as the ODCSPER agent, to review the personnel portions of Tables of Organization and Equipment (TOE) and Basis of Issues Plan (BOIP). At the same time, the agency received authority to approve the personnel sections of Army authorization documents (i.e., TDAs and MTOEs); to enforce the personnel provisions of Army regulations in the 611,310, and 570 series as those provisions relate to documentation; to approve and disapprove conversion of civilian positions to military; and to prepare and maintain authorization documents for joint, defense, and outside-DOD activities.

Officer Personnel

The officer accessions by source for FY 84 are shown in Table 28.

TABLE 28 - OFFICER ACCESSIONS

   Active    USAR    ARNG
USMA    940    -    -
ROTC    5,446    2,379    1,754
OCS    756    -    -
Warrants    1,762    -    -
State OCS    -    50    1,400
OCS RC    -    21    190
IRR TFR    -    2,581    930
Other    1,750    3,266    1,841
Total    10,614    8,297    6,115

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A DCSPER established study group aimed to determine ROTC program adjustment that would produce high quality leaders for the Army of the 1990s. Major areas of consideration included organization, recruiting (marketing, resources, and incentives), retention, education/ training, and entry/ commissioning standards. The report will be completed by the end of FY 85.

ROTC enrollment declined in FY 84 (school year 83-84) as can be seen in Table 29.

TABLE 29 - ROTC ENROLLMENT

   FY82    FY83    FY 84
Total Enrollment    72,463    73,819    72,759
     Production    7,079    8,093    8,245
Advance Course Enrollment    17,686    19,676    19,812
Scholarship Applicants    12,775    16,400    17,906
Scholarships Awarded    3,585    3,606    6,188
Scholarships in Force    7,535    8,500    11,704
Basic Camp  
     Reported    4,055    4,601    4,052
     Completed    3,583    4,150    3,640
Advanced Camp  
     Reported    8,157    9,806    9,255
     Completed    7,815    9,301    8,838

 

The 1976 Nunn Amendment shifted a large part of the Combat Service Support company grade structure to the Reserve Component, thereby causing an imbalance in the grade structure throughout the Active Army and creating a demand for Combat Service Support captains twice that for qualified lieutenants. Conversely, requirements for combat captains were fewer than those for lieutenants. To resolve this imbalance Regular Army and Other Than Regular Army officers were permitted to transfer voluntarily from one branch to another. Year group screening boards, meeting at 3Y2 and 7 Y2 year points of service will transfer quality officers from overfilled branches to those with shortages, reduce officer strength to meet budgeted end strength, and supply Reserve Components with quality officers. The first review will enable the Army to meet captain-level requirements while the second will handle field grade requirements. The Chief of Staff, Army, approved the Force Alignment Plan III in March 1984.

In October 1983, the Army implemented the Manpower Staffing Standards System (MS-3) in response to Government Ac-

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counting Office and congressional criticism of the Army's methodology for determining manpower requirements. Implementation of MS-3 established a sound basis for determining peacetime manpower requirements, projecting manpower requirements for mobilization and other contingencies, measuring effectiveness and efficiency, and enhancing personnel utilization. In FY 84, a number of projects were initiated to support further the development of workload driven standards. The MS-3 program resulted in improved Army credibility with the DOD, GAO, and Congress. The goal for MS-3 manpower requirements coverage is 400,000 positions by end of FY 89. The Army achieved 8 percent of this goal and placed 45,000 positions under evaluation for coverage by the end of FY 84.

Equal Opportunity

The Army significantly changed the thrust of its Military Equal Opportunity Programs during FY 84 to increase leadership responsibility for equal opportunity through two initiatives. The first initiative made the Department of the Army Office of Equal Opportunity a branch of DCSPER's Leader Policy Division to emphasize the responsibility of civilian and military leaders for supporting equal opportunity.

The second converted the enlisted equal opportunity adviser from a specific MOS (OOU) to a special qualification identifier "Q." Previously, soldiers from one MOS served consecutive tours as equal opportunity advisers. Under this initiative, outstanding NCOs from any MOS attended the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute and then served as an equal opportunity adviser for a one year tour. The soldiers served in units in which their MOS matched that of the majority of the unit's enlisted personnel. After a year, they returned to their primary MOS duties. Started midyear in 1984, this change should be completed by the close of FY86.

During FY 84, the Army's Equal Employment Opportunity Program showed a steady increase in the percentage of minorities, women, and disabled veterans within the Army's work force.

   FY 83    FY 84
Minorities    22.4    22.6
Women    39.2    40.1
Disabled Veterans    6.7    6.8
Handicapped    7.0    7.0

Likewise, the Army increased minority and female representation within the higher grade levels.

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   FY83    FY 84
GS/GM 13-15  
     Minorities    7.3    7.8
     Women    6.0    6.8
SES
     Minorities    5.0    5.2
     Women    2.9    3.2

 

Alcohol and Drug Abuse

The Army signficantly changed its policy for dealing with alcohol and other drug problems by assigning the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Program (ADAPCP) to the Leader Policy Division, Human Resources Directorate, DCSPER, to increase officer and civilian manager awareness of their responsibility for controlling, treating, and eradicating alcohol and drug abuse.

A group of specially selected experts studied the scientific, technical, and procedural aspects of the Army's drug testing laboratories to determine whether the test results legally met the military rules of evidence for disciplinary and administrative action. On 12 December 1983, the panel released their findings, which concluded that the testing system was legally accurate and that it deterred drug use. During FY 84, 6.2 percent of the 571,632 samples tested proved positive for either cocaine or THC (marijuana). A downward trend, starting with the beginning of drug abuse testing in 1981, in illegal drug abuse among soldiers continued. During FY 84, the ADAPCP treated 65,198 personnel and was successful with 72 percent.

 

Discipline, Law Enforcement, and Military Justice

Throughout FY 83 and well into FY 84, the Army's prisoner population approached the maximum capacity of the available military detention facilities. The United States Disciplinary Barracks (USDB), Fort Leavenworth, was full, and installation detention facilities held prisoners serving long-term sentences who were awaiting transfer to the USDB. The U.S. Army Correctional Activity (USACA), which recently changed its mission and name from retraining to correctional, could not relieve this backlog without changes. The commanders' and court system's more stringent policy resulted in longer sentences, which produced more prisoners for the USDB, fewer for the USACA, and even fewer for the installation detention facilities. After a successful six-month test ito determine whether USACA could handle soldiers with longer sen-

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tences, the Army began confining prisoners there. This eliminated the installation detention facility backlog, reduced the USDB population, relieved the prisoner population pressure throughout the Army's correctional system, and provided a more balanced prisoner-to-guard ratio for the entire system. (See Tables 30 and 31.)

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TABLE 30 - Indiscipline Indicators
(World Rates Per 1,000 Military Population)  

FY Qtr. Crimes of Violence Crimes Against Property Marijuana Use & Possession Other Drug Offenses Total Courts-Martial Non-Judicial Punishment Separation Other Than Honorable AWOL Desertion Drunk  Driving
83   1  1.12    15.95    5.16    1.09    2.52    39.24    3.74    4.9    1.9     
   2  1.18    14.75    4.62    1.45    2.53    42.25    3.29    5.1    1.6    5.08
   3  1.09    15.64    4.10    1.30    2.33    42.84    2.63    4.7    1.7    6.27
   4  1.18    16.19    3.54    1.16    1.88    44.24    2.24    4.9    1.9    6.35
Total       4.57    62.53    17.42    5.00    9.26    168.57    11.90    19.6    7.1     
84   1  .96    14.47    2.68    .94    1.77    35.39    2.81    3.3    1.6    6.43
   2  .83    13.70    2.97    1.09    1.66    37.99    2.50    3.5    1.4    6.33
   3  1.00    14.24    2.60    .92    1.54    36.04    2.26    3.2    1.5    5.91
   4  .96    15.69    2.60    .88    1.31    35.22    2.27    3.6    1.6    5.93
Total       3.75    58.10    10.85    3.83    6.28    144.64    9.84    13.6    6.1    24.60

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TABLE 31 - INDISCIPLINE RATES

Offense    Rate Change from FY 83 1
Property Crime    -7.1
Violent Crime    -17.9
Marijuana use/possession    -37.7
Other drug offenses    -23.4
AWOL    -30.6
Desertion    -14.1

1 Per 1,000

During FY 84, losses of conventional arms, ammunition, and explosives continued to be mostly single weapons and small numbers of munitions stolen by trusted personnel authorized to enter ammunition storage facilities or by military members during training periods.

Based upon recommendations and taskings made by the joint Security Chiefs Council in 1982, the U.S. Army Military Policy Operations Agency developed and published in March 1984 a joint regulation to standardize general physical security policies.

During fiscal year 1984, the Criminal Law Division of the Office of the Judge Advocate General continued to monitor courts-martial proceedings, to review and prepare military justice regulations and publications, and to develop draft changes to the Manual for Courts-martial and the Uniform Code of Military, Justice (UCMJ). See Table 32 for breakdown of courts-martial proceedings.

 

TABLE 32 - COURTS-MARTIAL

Court    1980    1981    1982    1983    1984    Change
GCM    1,353    1,426    1,500    1,588    1,442    9% (-)
SPBCD    1,385    1,792    2,556    2,082    1,403    33% (-)
SPCM    3,065    2,802    1,649    777    461    41% (-)
SCM    3,467    4,418    4,151    2,856    1,645    42% (-)
Total    9,270    10,438    9,856    7,303    4,951    32% (-)

The Office of the Judge Advocate General interpreted the decreases in the number of lower-level courts-martial in FY 84 partly due to higher recruiting standards and an increased use of administrative discharge proceedings for less serious offenders. The overall conviction rate of courts-martial increased to 93.4 percent from 93.2 percent in FY 83, while nonjudicial punishment declined by 24 percent from FY 83.

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On 6 December 1983, Congress passed the Military Justice Act of 1983 (PL. 98-209), effective 1 August 1984, which improved the military justice system and established an advisory commission to study military law and recommend changes to Congress. On 13 April 1984, President Reagan signed Executive Order 13473, which promulgated the Manual for Courts-martia4 United States, 1984, also effective 1 August 1984. The first complete revision since 1969, its changes streamlined the pre- and post trial processing of cases and reflected the recent changes in substantive law made by the Military Justice Act of 1983 and Executive Order 12460. The latter amended the old manual provisions for military death sentencing procedures.

The Office of the Judge Advocate General published a complete revision of AR-27-10 (Military Justice) on 1 July 1984 (effective date 1 August 1984), which reflected the 1983 and 1984 revisions made in the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Manual for Courts-martial.

Civilian Personnel

In September 1983, DCSPER approved the concept of a plan to revise the training program for 87,000 civilian employers in 23 different career programs. The Army Civilian Training, Education, And Development System (ACTEDS) revised the training and development framework to produce a structured career program for the civilian managers of the future, similar to the military system one that blends progressive and sequential work assignments and formal training for individuals as they progress to key managerial positions. The DCSLOG, DCSPER, and Commander, U.S. Army Materiel Command selected the Logistics and Acquisition Management Program (LOGAMP), involving the career programs in logistics and acquisition fields, as the ACTEDS prototype. LOGAMP's principal goal was to staff key positions with employees possessing the required disciplinary knowledge and competence to acquire and manage materiel throughout its life cycle. By the end of FY 84, the LOGAMP test was continuing.

In September 1983, the Army started an eighteen-month test of the Department of The Army Family Member Priority Placement Program, an adjunct of the DOD Priority Placement Program. The program offered computerized registration and referral, on a priority basis, to family member DA status employees of DA civilian or military sponsors who relocated on orders within CONUS. By the end of the fiscal year, the program had reached a 72 percent placement rate that benefited both family members and supervisors.

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The Department of the Army Scientific and Engineering Re serve Officers' Training Corps Cooperative Program (DASE ROTC CO-OP) combined the ROTC program with study-related civilian work opportunities at Department of the Army activities to recruit and retain high quality scientific and engineering students into the military and civilian work force. The program started on 15 February 1984 with a one year test in the first ROTC region and offered nationwide Department of the Army employment opportunities. The Army established a task force to supervise the program and, in mid-August, began an extensive recruiting drive. The Army will use the results to determine the future, if any, of the program.

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