U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office,

http://bookstore.gpo.gov. For more information, contact the GPO Customer Contact Center,

U.S. Government Printing Office. Phone 202–512–1800, or 866–512–1800 (toll-free). E-mail, gpo@custhelp.com.

i 

86–963 2014

[H.A.S.C. No. 113–73] 

FUTURE RECRUITING CHALLENGES 

IN THE FISCALLY CONSTRAINED 

ENVIRONMENT 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON MILITARY PERSONNEL 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

HEARING HELD 

JANUARY 16, 2014 
(II) 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON MILITARY PERSONNEL 

JOE WILSON, South Carolina, Chairman 

WALTER B. JONES, North Carolina 

JOSEPH J. HECK, Nevada 

AUSTIN SCOTT, Georgia 

BRAD R. WENSTRUP, Ohio 

JACKIE WALORSKI, Indiana 

CHRISTOPHER P. GIBSON, New York 

KRISTI L. NOEM, South Dakota 

SUSAN A. DAVIS, California 

ROBERT A. BRADY, Pennsylvania 

MADELEINE Z. BORDALLO, Guam 

DAVID LOEBSACK, Iowa 

NIKI TSONGAS, Massachusetts 

CAROL SHEA-PORTER, New Hampshire 

CRAIG GREENE, Professional Staff Member 

DEBRA WADA, Professional Staff Member 

COLIN BOSSE, Clerk 
(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF HEARINGS 

2014 

HEARING: Page 

Thursday, January 16, 2014, Future Recruiting Challenges in the Fiscally 

Constrained Environment ................................................................................... 1 

APPENDIX: 

Thursday, January 16, 2014 ................................................................................... 27 

THURSDAY, JANUARY 16, 2014 

FUTURE RECRUITING CHALLENGES IN THE FISCALLY CONSTRAINED 

ENVIRONMENT 

STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS 

Davis, Hon. Susan A., a Representative from California, Ranking Member, 

Subcommittee on Military Personnel ................................................................. 2 

Wilson, Hon. Joe, a Representative from South Carolina, Chairman, Subcommittee on Military Personnel ........................................................................ 1 

WITNESSES 

Andrews, RDML Annie B., USN, Commander, Navy Recruiting Command, 

U.S. Navy .............................................................................................................. 7 

Brilakis, MajGen Mark A., USMC, Commanding General, Marine Corps Recruiting Command, U.S. Marine Corps .............................................................. 6 

Grosso, Brig Gen Gina M., USAF, Director, Force Management Policy, U.S. 

Air Force ............................................................................................................... 8 

Penrod, Virginia S. ‘‘Vee,’’ Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military 

Personnel Policy, Department of Defense .......................................................... 3 

Seamands, MG Thomas C., USA, Director of Military Personnel Management, 

U.S. Army ............................................................................................................. 4 

APPENDIX 

PREPARED STATEMENTS: 

Andrews, RDML Annie B. ............................................................................... 57 

Brilakis, MajGen Mark A. ............................................................................... 49 

Grosso, Brig Gen Gina M. ................................................................................ 69 

Penrod, Virginia S. ‘‘Vee’’ ................................................................................. 33 

Seamands, MG Thomas C. ............................................................................... 41 

Wilson, Hon. Joe ............................................................................................... 31 

DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD: 

Letter from LTC (Ret.) Margaret Stock to Mr. Coffman supporting H.R. 

435, The Military Enlistment Opportunity Act .......................................... 81 

WITNESS RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS ASKED DURING THE HEARING: 

Mr. Coffman ...................................................................................................... 109 

Mr. Scott ............................................................................................................ 107 

Ms. Tsongas ...................................................................................................... 107 

QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MEMBERS POST HEARING: 

[There were no Questions submitted post hearing.] 

(1) 

FUTURE RECRUITING CHALLENGES IN THE FISCALLY 

CONSTRAINED ENVIRONMENT 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON MILITARY PERSONNEL, Washington, DC, Thursday, January 16, 2014. 

The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:05 a.m., in room 

2118, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Joe Wilson (chairman 

of the subcommittee) presiding. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOE WILSON, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM SOUTH CAROLINA, CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE 

ON MILITARY PERSONNEL 

Mr. WILSON. Ladies and gentlemen, the hearing will come to 

order. 

I would like to welcome everyone to a meeting of the House 

Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel. 

Even before we begin, there is someone who is not here. The late 

John Chapla, who was one of our lead personnel, and just a real 

champion for our military service members, military families, and 

veterans. And I am just so grateful that all of us—yesterday, we 

had a tribute to John. And it was a real tribute to a person who 

has made a difference on behalf of our military. And, in particular, 

I am very grateful, as I became chairman of this subcommittee, 

succeeding now-Secretary of the Army, John McHugh. Wow. It was 

huge shoes to fill, except that John Chapla was there. And so, he 

was an extraordinary person. 

Additionally, he had a great talent in recruiting professional staff 

to work with him, with Jeanette James and Craig Greene. And 

just, so appreciative—David Giachetti and Colin Bosse. So, we have 

got good people. And then yesterday, too—and many of you were 

there—but what a tribute for his wife, Leah—to know how much 

people appreciate, and also, his daughters, Maren and Marie. 

So, as we begin today, we truly are working on issues that, indeed, were established by John Chapla. 

Today, the subcommittee will examine the future recruiting challenges in a fiscally constrained environment, as well as discuss 

whether or not there is a need to expand the eligible population 

available for service in the military. 

Historically, after major conflict or war, the military goes 

through a period of reduction and change to include smaller budgets. The next several years will be no different, except the Budget 

Control Act of 2011 will have a greater impact on budget reductions. 
2 

The committee has heard from the Department of Defense and 

the military services over the past year on the impacts of military 

sequestration on end strength, readiness, and procurement. But 

equally important is the impact on the ability to recruit an AllVolunteer Force. 

Regardless of the size of the military, it must still be able to attract eligible and qualified individuals to serve. With the percentage of eligible youth between the age of 17 and 24 shrinking, it will 

remain a challenge for the services to recruit the best and brightest 

qualified candidates. I personally believe service in the military 

creates opportunity. And as many people as possible should have 

that opportunity to serve, as long as they meet the required qualifications. I myself cherished the opportunities it has provided to me 

and my family, all credit to my wife. And so, four sons serving 

today, thanks to efforts that all of you have made. 

I would like to welcome our distinguished witnesses. 

Ms. Vee Penrod, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for 

Military Personnel Policy. 

Major General Thomas Seamands, Director of Military Personnel 

Management, U.S. Army. 

Major General Mark A. Brilakis, the Commanding General of Recruiting Command, U.S. Marine Corps. 

Rear Admiral Annie B. Andrews, Commander, Navy Recruiting 

Command, U.S. Navy. 

Brigadier General Gina Grosso, Director of Force Management 

Policy, U.S. Air Force. 

Mrs. Davis, Ranking Member, do you have any opening remarks? 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Wilson can be found in the Appendix on page 31.] 

STATEMENT OF HON. SUSAN A. DAVIS, A REPRESENTATIVE 

FROM CALIFORNIA, RANKING MEMBER, SUBCOMMITTEE ON 

MILITARY PERSONNEL 

Mrs. DAVIS. Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I certainly want 

to acknowledge with you the many, many contributions in the service to this committee, and through this committee to the men and 

women who serve, and particularly, their families, as well. It was 

heartwarming to see the response and all the eulogies, all the wonderful things that people had to say. And I know the family appreciated that. 

Today’s hearing on future recruiting challenges in a fiscally constrained environment is certainly timely. And I am pleased that we 

are starting early with these hearings, given the recent news that 

unemployment rates have recently fallen below 7 percent, and the 

first since 2008. That said, we know that we still want to see our 

economy improve, but we know that it has an impact, as well, on 

the services. 

Recruiting and retention efforts of the services are a complex 

issue that needs to be continuously overseen and properly managed 

in order for the services to achieve our All-Volunteer Force. 

And the economy, the propensity to serve, the support of 

influencers, patriotism, the ability to serve are just a few of the factors that impact recruiting and retention. 
3 

The passage of the Budget Control Act and sequestration has 

had an impact on the services, clearly. And although there is a 

budget agreement for the next 2 years that will provide some stability, available resources will significantly diminish over the next 

several years. And so, attracting and retaining qualified candidates 

to serve in the Armed Forces will continue to place demands on 

limited resources. 

The decisions that the services and the Department make today 

will have years of repercussions. So, it is important that we understand where the services are in their recruitment and retention efforts, what efforts they are taking to meet their goals in these very 

uncertain fiscal challenges to ensure that they are bringing together, that we are finding, and that we are retaining the right 

people with the right skills, education, and experience for the right 

jobs. 

So, thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

I look forward to hearing from all of our witnesses. And thank 

you all so much for the contributions that you all make. Thank you. 

Mr. WILSON. Thank you, Mrs. Davis. 

I now ask unanimous consent that Congressman Mike Coffman 

from Colorado and Congressman Jeff Denham from California be 

allowed to participate and ask questions after all members of the 

subcommittee have had the opportunity to question the witnesses. 

Without objection, so ordered. 

Ms. Penrod, we will begin with your testimony. As a reminder, 

please keep your statements to 3 minutes. 

We have your written statements for the record. Following your 

testimony, each subcommittee member will participate with questions in rounds of 5 minutes each until adjournment. 

STATEMENT OF VIRGINIA S. ‘‘VEE’’ PENROD, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR MILITARY PERSONNEL 

POLICY, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Ms. PENROD. Thank you. 

Chairman Wilson, Ranking Member Davis, and distinguished 

members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to 

provide testimony today. 

The All-Volunteer Force continues to perform remarkably well as 

it enters its fifth decade. It continues to be the strongest and most 

well-respected military force in the world. 

Our new recruit quality is at an all-time high, and in almost 

every category, we continue to achieve the numbers of volunteers 

required to sustain this professional force. 

We know the continued success of our All-Volunteer Force begins 

with recruiting the best and the brightest of America’s youth. 

These young men and women are diverse and are representative of 

our society. 

We rely on and appreciate the continued support of the Congress, 

which has contributed greatly to our ability to meet our recruiting 

and retention goals, especially in our more challenging times. 

Despite our recent recruiting success, the process has inherent 

challenges. The size of our youth market is finite. Today, nearly 75 

percent of our youth are not qualified for military service. There 
4 

are a number of reasons for this, but the main reason among them 

is health and fitness issues. 

In addition, since 2004, the percent of youths who associate military service with an attractive lifestyle is down approximately 20 

percent. 

We also know that our recruiting efforts are often shaped by the 

health of the economy and world events. 

The last couple of years of relatively high youth unemployment 

has been a driver for more people to consider military service. 

As the economy improves, however, we expect youth interest in 

military service as an employment option to decline. 

To expand the recruiting market, the Department has long supported the enlistment of non-citizens, to the extent permitted by 

law, subject to these individuals being otherwise qualified for service in the United States Armed Forces. 

The Department of Defense is conducting a comprehensive review of immigration issues as they relate to service in the Armed 

Forces. 

Upon completion of the review, we will share the results with 

you. 

Fiscal realities also impact recruiting, requiring the services to 

continuously adjust recruiting programs accordingly. The Department will pay close attention to these adjustments. 

To overcome potential challenges that may lie ahead, we must 

ensure our recruiters are trained and the appropriate recruiting resources are available to meet these challenges. 

I will leave it to my colleagues to address the efforts they have 

taken in the respective services. 

Mr. Chairman, in conclusion, I want to thank you and the members of the subcommittee for your advocacy on behalf of the men 

and women of the Department of Defense. 

In particular, I would like to take the opportunity to publicly 

thank and recognize the significant contributions of John Chapla to 

the Department of Defense, and I offer my sincere condolences on 

his passing. 

I look forward to your questions. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Penrod can be found in the Appendix on page 33.] 

Mr. WILSON. Thank you very much, Ms. Penrod 

General Seamands. 

STATEMENT OF MG THOMAS C. SEAMANDS, USA, DIRECTOR 

OF MILITARY PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT, U.S. ARMY 

General SEAMANDS. Chairman Wilson, Ranking Member Davis, 

distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to appear today on behalf of America’s Army. 

I would like to echo the comments already made about John 

Chapla. John was an Army veteran, a friend, and he always reminded us, at the end of every legislation, every action, was a soldier and their family. 

I appreciate your steadfast commitment to ensure the needs of 

the All-Volunteer Force are met. Through your support we are able 

to balance needs of our soldiers, their families, and our civilian 

workforce. 
5 

Our Army is now made up of the highest quality, best trained, 

most experienced, and highest skilled soldiers ever. Our ability to 

meet the challenges of the current and the future operational environment depends on our ability to recruit great citizens and retain 

great soldiers. 

As we go through the drawdown, though the recruiting missions 

will be lower, we will continue to bring in high-quality men and 

women into the force to grow future leaders. 

In fiscal year 2013, the Active Army met its recruiting mission. 

The Army National Guard and Army Reserve fell short of their fiscal year 2013 mission, primarily due to the need to recruit to specific geographic areas. 

We must retain the most talented soldiers with the experience 

and skills necessary to meet our future needs. 

Despite the challenges of the ongoing conflict, future drawdown 

plans, and the budgetary constraints, the Active and Reserve once 

again exceeded their enlistment retention missions for fiscal year 

2013. 

The National Guard achieved 86 percent of its assigned mission. 

The total Army percentage newly enlisted soldiers with a high 

school diploma was 98 percent, well above historic rates. 

Additionally, the Army achieved 99 percent for each of its military occupational specialties. However, recruiting is expected to become increasingly more difficult due to tough recruiting environment and the impacts of the budget. 

These will likely cause a decline in the entry pool. 

The continued support of Congress for competitive military benefits and compensation, incentive bonuses for our soldiers, and marketing to help us tell our story will remain critical to the All-Volunteer Army’s effort to recruit, retain, and support the highest caliber 

soldier. 

While we transformed to a smaller Army, we remain dedicated 

to improving readiness and building resilience in our soldiers, civilians, and families. The well-being of our force, regardless of the 

size, is absolutely dependent upon your tremendous support. 

The Army is proud of the high caliber men and women whose 

willingness to serve is a credit to our Nation. 

Chairman Wilson, Ranking Member Davis, and members of the 

subcommittee, we thank you again for your generous and unwavering support of our outstanding soldiers, civilian professionals, and 

family. 

Army strong. 

[The prepared statement of General Seamands can be found in 

the Appendix on page 41.] 

Mr. WILSON. Thank you, General, and thank you, too, for referencing John Chapla. He was such a proud Army veteran, Vietnam veteran. He, I believe, fulfilled his commitment as a Virginia 

Military Institute gentleman, serving God and country. 

Thank you very much. 

And General Brilakis. 
6 

STATEMENT OF MAJ GEN MARK A. BRILAKIS, USMC, COMMANDING GENERAL, MARINE CORPS RECRUITING COMMAND, U.S. MARINE CORPS 

General BRILAKIS. Brilakis, sir, thank you very much. 

Good morning, Chairman Wilson, Ranking Member Davis, and 

distinguished members of the subcommittee. Thank you for your 

continuously strong support for your Nation’s military forces and 

our recruiting efforts. 

I am pleased to appear before you today, to answer questions 

about the state of Marine Corp recruiting. 

And before I go on, on behalf of the men and women of the 

United States Marine Corps, I would like to echo Ms. Penrod’s sentiments with respect to Mr. John Chapla and his passing, and recognize his long service, both to the committee and to the Nation. 

The Marine Corps remains faithful to our responsibility to you 

and to the American public to recruit quality people who meet the 

standards that we expect of marines. 

We also remain committed to our process of transforming our 

youths into marines, winning our country’s battles and returning 

quality citizens back to their communities, citizens, who, once 

transformed, will be marines for life. 

As our Commandant has recently stated to the full committee, 

the corps has been a people-intense force for more than 238 years. 

The individual marine is the bedrock of our corps. 

The Marine Corps has succeeded for more than four decades to 

attract superb young men and women from all of America’s communities. However, today’s recruiting force continues to face many 

challenges. Our recruiters work long hours to find eligible and 

physically qualified candidates, with the ambition or propensity to 

serve their country. 

Additionally, our recruiters find they must invest considerable 

time with parents, teachers, guidance counselors, and others who 

influence today’s youth as they consider their post-high school opportunities. 

During the past fiscal year, the Marine Corps achieved its recruiting objectives in both quality and quantity. There was also 

continued progress with recruiting applicants from a wide and diverse background, across all the States and territories. 

This was the result of the hard work performed by those marines 

assigned to the recruiting duty and committed to accomplishing 

that mission. 

I attribute the success we achieved this past year to the strong, 

positive image our corps enjoys with the American people, and to 

a quality recruiting force, one that is staffed, screened, welltrained, and properly resourced to meet mission requirements. 

We are currently meeting our objectives for both enlisted and officer recruiting in fiscal year 2014. And while recruiting is beset 

with uncertainties, we anticipate that we will achieve our assigned 

mission in this current year. 

Thank you again for this opportunity to appear before you. We 

will continue to work hard to find and recruit quality volunteers to 

ensure the Marine Corps remains ready to defend our country 

today and tomorrow, wherever and whatever the mission might be. 
7 

Mr. Chairman, on a personal note, I would like to thank you and 

your family for their service to our country. Thank you, and I am 

prepared to answer your questions. 

[The prepared statement of General Brilakis can be found in the 

Appendix on page 49.] 

Mr. WILSON. General Brilakis, thank you very much for your testimony. 

Admiral Andrews. 

STATEMENT OF RDML ANNIE B. ANDREWS, USN, COMMANDER, 

NAVY RECRUITING COMMAND, U.S. NAVY 

Admiral ANDREWS. Chairman Wilson, Ranking Member Davis, 

and distinguished members of the committee, thank you for holding 

this important hearing and for the opportunity to discuss the challenges facing Navy recruiting in a fiscally constrained environment. 

On behalf of our Navy family, I would like to echo Ms. Penrod’s 

expression of sympathy to Mr. Chapla’s family, friends, and colleagues. 

Navy continues to work hard to attract the best and brightest to 

serve in the United States Navy. Last year, and so far this year, 

we have achieved all Active Component officer accession goals and 

all Active and Reserve enlisted accession goals. 

In general, the pace of economic growth, coupled with high unemployment, has contributed to a favorable recruiting market, permitting a proportional reduction in recruiting resources. 

As the economy continues to improve and the recruiting environment becomes more challenging, we must continue to adequately 

source recruiting efforts to continue meeting accession goals. 

As long as Navy recruiting is funded, consistent with the President’s budget request, I am confident that we will not experience 

any insurmountable difficulties in marketing and advertising, sustain recruiter training and high-quality recruiting force, or meeting 

accession requirements for high-demands, low-density rating. 

As private sector career opportunities increase, use of incentives 

such as enlistment bonuses will help attract recruits with the characteristics necessary for Navy service, as means of getting the right 

sailor with the right skills to the right place at the right time. 

Additionally, effective marketing and advertising is a force multiplier, crucial to lead generation and accession of the right sailor. 

In fiscal year 2012, Navy obtained the highest historical recruit, 

with quality of 99 percent of accessions entering as high school diploma graduates. 

Last year saw a slight decline in recruit quality, which, while 

still well above DOD [Department of Defense] and Navy standards, 

bear watching for leading indicators. We remain committed to sustaining recruit quality as a means of maintaining our technological 

edge. We are America’s Navy. 

We will continue to recruit the best and most qualified youths in 

the Nation to meet current and emerging requirements while tackling the challenges of an increasingly competitive marketplace and 

an improving economy. 

On behalf of Navy leadership, the men and women of the United 

States Navy and their families, I thank you for your commitment 

and unwavering support. I look forward to your questions. 
8 

[The prepared statement of Admiral Andrews can be found in the 

Appendix on page 57.] 

Mr. WILSON. Thank you very much, Admiral Andrews. General 

Grosso. 

STATEMENT OF BRIG GEN GINA M. GROSSO, USAF, DIRECTOR, 

FORCE MANAGEMENT POLICY, U.S. AIR FORCE 

General GROSSO. Chairman Wilson, Ranking Member Davis, distinguished members of the committee. It is my honor to testify before you today representing all airmen serving in the United States 

Air Force. 

I would like to echo my colleagues’ condolences on the passing of 

Mr. John Chapla. We offer our deepest sympathies to his family 

and friends during this difficult time and would like to recognize 

his tremendous service to our Nation. 

A strong recruiting program is vital to the Air Force’s ability to 

provide airspace and cyberspace power to the Nation. A weak economy in recent years, coupled with the talented and adequately 

resourced recruiting force, produced the highest quality recruits in 

Air Force history. 

However, we recognize this trend will be unsustainable as the 

economy continues to improve and competition to draw recruits 

from the small, qualified talent pool, who are alarmingly less inclined to choose military service as a career, increases dramatically. 

With this in mind, we must remain focused on recruiting, assessing, and retaining qualified and motivated airmen to meet today’s 

and tomorrow’s security challenges. 

This will require continued investment in our recruiting forces 

with a focus on maintaining a right-sized and appropriately trained 

recruiting force. 

It will also require a sustained and robust advertising and marketing campaign to support our recruiters’ efforts to assess hardto-reach markets and effectively sway youth towards military service. 

And finally, it will require an adequate initial enlistment bonus 

program, which has demonstrated a strong return on investment 

by inducing non-propensed recruits to volunteer for our most hardto-fill specialties. 

In spite of recent budget reductions, we will continue to strongly 

advocate for recruiting resources needed to ensure we do not miss 

annual recruiting requirements. Thank you for your interest in the 

Air Force’s recruiting program. I look forward to your questions. 

[The prepared statement of General Grosso can be found in the 

Appendix on page 69.] 

Mr. WILSON. Thank you very much, General. 

And now that I will proceed into the 5-minute rounds and we 

will have a person above reproach, Craig Greene, to maintain the 

5-minute rule, including on me. And so that we can get to everyone 

here. 

As we begin again, I indicate in my opening statement that what 

I see you doing is obviously protecting our country, our freedoms, 

our liberty, civil order, but you are providing opportunity. 
9 

And our families lived it. My dad was in the 14th Air Force Flying Tigers. That was the highlight of his life. And I am very grateful to have a nephew in the Air Force. 

And then the Navy—I grew up in the extraordinary city of 

Charleston, South Carolina, the Navy base. I was a sea cadet. I am 

very grateful to have a son who is in the Navy. 

The Marine Corps, General Brilakis, I will always cherish—I represent Parris Island. And to see the positive transformation of 

young people, it was extraordinary to see these young people 

speaking to their family members, trying to explain—it is me. And 

there was an extraordinary physical and presence change that 

truly was extraordinary and very uplifting. 

And then, General, I am very grateful to have three sons in the 

Army, currently, and I have the privilege of seeing what you do. 

And that is, as I fly into Columbia Airport, which I will do later 

today, there will be young people there with brown envelopes and 

manila envelopes. I know why they are there. 

The Columbia midlands community greets them as royalty with 

the USO [United Service Organization] right there. First thing 

they do, and then the drill instructors get them back on the bus. 

But thank you for providing opportunity and safety. In the past 

the services have reduced the number of recruiters to cut cost and 

try to use other tools to mitigate the impact, such as social media, 

technology, and putting civilians in recruiting offices. 

For each of our military witnesses, and beginning with General 

Seamands and we will go right, I am concerned that history will 

repeat itself again. And the services will reduce the number of recruiters based on the budget and not mission requirements. 

As some of you have stated in your testimony, recruiters are 

working 60-hour weeks with the stress of the job impacting their 

mental health and family life. 

What are each of you doing to ensure that you have enough recruiters to meet your missions? 

General SEAMANDS. General Wilson, thank you for the question. 

What the Army is doing is taking a long-term view of the issue. 

If you look at our accessions mission for 2014, there was a reduction from 2013. What we opted to do is leave the recruiting force 

into the communities. 

We feel that what recruiters do and so much of what you and I 

do every day is built on trust. And you need to keep the recruiters 

in the high schools, in the communities, in the cities, to have that 

relationship and that trust. 

So we have maintained roughly the same level of support despite 

a reduced mission out in the recruiting force. 

General BRILAKIS. Mr. Chairman, thanks for the question. 

In 2012, after a lot of research and work was done, we determined the current size of recruiting force is adequate to meet our 

requirements now into the future, and the Commandant approved 

3,760 recruiters in support of that active mission. 

He has also directed that that number be filled at 100 percent. 

You are well aware that, across the board, there are certain units 

that get their full complement and some that get a little bit less 

depending upon the availability of manpower. 
10 

Ours are being filled at 100 percent which allows us to put marines across the globe, across the country, and in some of the territories. So we are actively recruiting across every aspect of our 

Nation. 

On the resource side, with respect to dollars, we have been—we 

did take a reduction with respect to our advertising and recruiter 

operations dollars given the scope and the size of the sequestration 

reduction that was coming in 2014. 

However, we have taken a hard look at that. We have made 

economies. And we feel very comfortable where we are at, understanding that in the future there will be a challenge with some of 

the adjustments we have been made. 

And so we are looking at that very closely to determine exactly 

where we will have to go back to leadership and ask for a little bit 

more to make sure that we are in a good position to take advantage 

of whichever way the demographics go. 

Mr. WILSON. Thank you. 

Admiral ANDREWS. Mr. Chairman, for the Navy, the recruiting 

budget for this year’s accession is favorable. We concern ourselves 

as well as far as making sure that we have all the recruiters dispersed across the Nation giving them time for their families. 

For the number of accessions that we have for this year, we are 

very comfortable. We concern ourselves within the coming years if 

those numbers and accession numbers go up that we want to make 

sure that we have all the right recruiters out there in all the places 

making sure that they remain ambassadors for the Navy, going 

into schools, into communities, and being there and spending their 

time with their families. Thank you, sir. 

Mr. WILSON. Thank you. 

General GROSSO. Mr. Chairman, our recruiting force is sized by 

the number of accessions that we have and has come down slightly 

as the force has gotten smaller. We have no plans to reduce recruiters further and we, too, like the Marine Corps, have changed our 

assignment policy such that all of our positions will be filled. 

Mr. WILSON. And that is very encouraging. And, as I conclude, 

I also want to commend you working with JROTC/ROTC [Junior 

Reserve Officers’ Training Corps/Reserve Officers’ Training Corps] 

units. 

As a product of ROTC myself and as I travel through the district 

I represent, educators are just so pleased with what JROTC means 

to the school, the spirit of the school. It just has such a positive 

impact. But, also, certainly can introduce young people to the benefits of military service. 

So I want to thank you all for work with the—particularly the 

JROTC units. 

And, now, we shall turn to Congresswoman Davis. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

And I wonder if you could just highlight a major challenge or 

two. One of them that we were aware of over the past decade, of 

course, is medical professionals, mental health providers, a whole 

group of individuals who are vastly needed throughout the country, 

more so in rural areas, small towns, as opposed to big cities perhaps, but we know that that is a real need. 
11 

So if you could include that among other highlights of, you know, 

particular challenges. 

I think that you also both, I think, General Grosso and Admiral 

Andrews, that there has been some decline in quality that you suggested and we know from the reports too that students of—have 

more high academic scores are less inclined perhaps now. So if you 

could help us out with those issues that would be very helpful. 

Ms. Penrod, do you want to speak to that or we will just let the 

services or—go ahead. 

Ms. PENROD. I will defer to the services—— 

Mrs. DAVIS. Okay, thank you. 

Ms. PENROD [continuing]. On their particular programs. 

Mrs. DAVIS. General Seamands. 

General SEAMANDS. Ma’am, I think one of the indications, and 

you asked about major challenges, as we look at our delayed entry 

pool, we see that decreasing. We see that as kind of a canary in 

the coal mine in terms of warning about a tough environment 

ahead. If you were to go back in time about a year ago, we would 

have had almost half our mission in the delayed entry program. If 

you look at it now, it is about a third so it is going down which 

is one of the things we are looking at. 

In terms across the board, we do fairly well with our medical professionals coming in. One of the challenges we have is the cyber 

piece as we train for the Army cyber force making sure we have 

the right soldiers with the right skill set in that area. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Yes. Thank you. 

General. 

General BRILAKIS. Ma’am, as I take a look at resources and one 

of the questions—you asked about rural recruiting. There is always 

a challenge. There is time involved. 

I was just up in Buffalo at the beginning of the week and outside 

of Buffalo, dairy country, a lot of small high schools, a lot of time 

required to get to a small high school with 25 to 50 graduates, to 

get allowed into that school and have that dialogue with those students. 

You know, the toughest thing that we deal with probably right 

now, resource-wise, that nobody can help me with, is time. There 

is never enough time. 

But we are making the effort and we have people across the 

country and we are in every market and we are actively recruiting 

in those small schools because it is important to the Commandant 

to have representation across our Nation in the Marine Corps. 

On the quality issue that you talked about, our quality is as high 

as it has ever been. The young men and women we are assessing 

are exceptional. They are dedicated, they are bright and they are 

doing really hard things very, very well. 

I think part of the challenge that has been identified is the number of those individuals is dropping a little bit, but, more importantly, the propensity of those individuals is going down. 

And so while there might be a good, sustainable population, their 

propensity is getting smaller and so there is a smaller number. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Yes. 

General BRILAKIS. You know, the 30-some million 17- to 24-yearolds that we have out there, by the time you get all the way down 
12 

to those that are qualified and propensed, you are down to less 

than a million young Americans, which means we have to work— 

that is an area we like to work in. 

But we also have work in that qualified not necessarily 

propensed. How do we get in and show them the value of service? 

And so that is one of the things that’s very difficult for us right 

now and we are continuing to work that. 

And the last thing I would talk about are concerns for me are 

dollars. Just with respect that we all understand that a decision we 

make today in the recruiting effort, whether it be manpower or in 

dollars, can boomerang very badly a year or two from now. 

The lagging indicators are the things that are probably the 

toughest to indicate and as the employment numbers start to get 

better, and we are all happy about that, those challenges are out 

there. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Thank you. 

Admiral ANDREWS. For managing time, the recruiters spend a lot 

of time making sure that they are out there in those schools and 

places and being visible. Along with their time, they are doing a 

lot of mentoring, they are training, they are in schools, they are 

talking with parents, and they are doing administrative work. 

For quality, we have seen quality high and we have the luxury 

of that for the last couple of years, but we are also looking to make 

sure that we can keep that quality. 

While the ASVAB [Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery] 

scores have been high for those that we are accepting, our concern 

would be when quality change and look at those trends as the economy improves. And we will know that by looking at time it takes 

to get recruiters in, time it takes to get them at least accepted into 

the Navy. 

As far as medical, for the Reserve, we have had our challenges 

for getting those medical and that was due to, one, high retention 

within the Active Duty, not going into the Reserve, and the others 

because of the medical practice, some are concerned with losing 

their own private practices and also concern about long deployment. 

The concern I have is with the—making sure we have dollars so 

we continue to be out there to advertise. It takes a long time for— 

if we lose our sight out there in the community to gain that again. 

So keeping those dollars for advertising and making sure we are 

where we need to be where it matters so we can get there. 

General GROSSO. Ma’am, our major challenge is promoting airmen that work typically with the Army and the special ops forces. 

We call them battlefield airmen. We don’t have big recruiting numbers, but that is exactly where we target our initial enlistment 

bonus. And we have found that to be very effective and we have 

not seen a drop-off in quality yet. 

In fiscal year 2013, we finished the year with 98 percent of the 

force at 50 percent or above in the percentile. And right now the 

young folks we have in our delayed enlistment program are at 97 

percent. So we haven’t seen a drop-off yet. 

Mr. WILSON. Thank you, Mrs. Davis. 
13 

And we now proceed to the newly named—just-named chairman 

of the Oversight and Investigation Committee, Congressman Dr. 

Joe Heck. 

Dr. HECK. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you all for being 

here and thank you for what you are doing in trying to make sure 

that we are able to maintain the All-Volunteer Force. 

Ms. Penrod, I am going to direct my questions to you because I 

think they are kind of overarching across all the services. The first 

one is that in a time of decreasing resources, I think we see every 

time the NDAA [National Defense Authorization Act] or a defense 

appropriations bill comes to the floor there are amendments offered 

to try to micromanage recruiting budgets, what you can and can’t 

spend your money on. 

Can you briefly tell me what the impact of that is by saying let’s 

say you can’t sponsor NASCAR, you know, based on what you 

think as a service are the best use of your dollars? 

Ms. PENROD. Yes, Dr. Heck. We believe that the services are 

really in the best position to determine how to spend recruiting dollars. They understand their force. They know their requirements. 

They understand the culture. 

When the services are directed or not directed to spend recruiting dollars, it is, we believe, a misdirection of funds. So we absolutely believe the decisions should be left to the services, and we 

provide oversight to ensure that they follow policy and law. 

Dr. HECK. Thanks for allowing that to get on the record. Second 

question. Even though—and the chairman mentioned the impact of 

JROTC units, and I try to get to visit all of the JRTOC units that 

are in my district. And knowing that the mission is really to build 

leadership, not necessarily a recruiting tool, is there a number—do 

we track how many accessions we get from JRTOC programs? 

And I know that in greater discussion about DOD budgets one 

of the things that’s potentially on the chopping block are JROTC 

programs. Is there a concern amongst the recruiting community if 

we start cutting JROTC and what that might to do to the recruiting pipeline? 

Ms. PENROD. Dr. Heck, you are absolutely correct. Junior— 

JROTC is an assistantship program and not a recruiting program. 

There are 3,400 units currently in JROTC. The services are struggling with their budgets to maintain those units. And they do understand the citizenship aspect of those programs. 

We do not collect or maintain data on the number of individuals 

that would be encouraged by participating in junior ROTC that 

come into the military. 

Dr. HECK. I would just throw out there that might be a number 

that is worth trying to track to see whether—because I think that 

may help actually make an argument to continue JRTOC as a 

funded program if we can show that we are getting a fair number 

of accessions from them participating in those programs. 

Next question is as we all see that—we are seeing that decreased 

propensity to assume a military lifestyle, and we are certainly seeing a decrease in the number of folks that are either academically 

or physically and medically qualified to come into the service. 

You know, over history we have had changes in entry-level requirements to try to meet the demands. Sometimes those haven’t 
14 

always worked to the benefit of the services. Curious as to whether 

or not—I know it is still early because of the current changes in 

the market—but whether or not there is any consideration being 

given to changing accession requirements in order to meet the mission. 

Ms. PENROD. Dr. Heck, again, All-Volunteer Force is in the fifth 

decade. And even in times of difficult recruiting we have never lowered the standard of 90 percent high school diploma graduates or 

60 percent in categories I through IIIA. It is very important that 

we bring in a quality force to maintain our readiness and the requirements of the services. 

Dr. HECK. I am going to run out of time soon. I got a list of questions. The other one I want to ask is how are we doing on getting 

access to the high schools? Are we seeing continued problems with 

getting access in certain communities or certain areas? Are we getting access to our potential recruits? 

Ms. PENROD. We have outstanding access. We are not seeing 

problems at this time. 

Dr. HECK. Since I have some time left, I am going to change to 

Major General Seamands. I will let you off the hook, Ms. Penrod. 

With the issue that we are seeing in meeting the Guard and Reserve recruitment missions, what steps are being taken to try to 

convince those that are separating from Active Duty to continue 

their service in either the COMPO [Component] 2 or 3? 

General SEAMANDS. We have developed a great partnership with 

the Reserve and the Guard and work hand in hand with them as 

we identify and downsize the armed—the Active Component. If you 

were to take a look at the Active Component to Reserve Component 

transition the last couple years, we have exceeded 157 percent 2 

years ago and we have raised the standard or the goal for that 

across the board. 

My counterparts in the Guard and the Reserve understand how 

our—what our process is. One of the things we have done is with 

the Reserve recruiters we have moved their engagement with the 

Active force to the left so they are engaging them earlier. So it becomes part of their thought process about getting out, going to Reserves and Guard. 

We talk about soldier for life where you continue to be a soldier 

after you leave the service. We don’t like using the word separation 

of service. It is really a transition whether you go to civilian or go 

into the Reserve Component, but we are encouraging that across 

the board from the Chief of Staff of the Army all the way down. 

Dr. HECK. Great. Thank you very much. Thanks, Mr. Chair. 

Yield back. 

Mr. WILSON. Thank you, Chairman Heck. We would proceed to 

Congresswoman Niki Tsongas. She has had to depart for a vote. 

And so we will now go to Congressman Austin Scott of Georgia. 

Mr. SCOTT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And Congressman Heck 

asked a lot of my questions. Access to ROTC and the—I would be 

interested in the number of people who are in ROTC and enlist in 

the military and maybe the average duration because I think that 

is an extremely valuable program. 

I guess I will move to a different question. Maybe you can answer this. The issue of dwell time. And when I first got to Con-
15 

gress, one of the goals of the leadership at the DOD was to increase 

the dwell time because they felt like that was having a tremendous 

impact not only on the retention of people but on the ability to 

bring new people in, especially if it wasn’t somebody who was 18 

but somebody who maybe was a little older than your traditional 

recruit. 

It seems to me that some of the policies with reducing the size 

of the force as we are engaged in more and more conflicts, granted 

some of them may be smaller, is inconsistent with increasing the 

amount of dwell time the men and women in uniform have. 

And I just wonder if each of you could speak to that issue of 

dwell time and the impact that it has on recruiting. 

General SEAMANDS. I believe there is a direct correlation because—not only on recruiting, sir, but also on retention. I will take 

it for the record to get you the exact numbers. I believe we are 

about one to two right now in the Active Component force. 

Part of it is a math problem. So as the number of requirements 

to deploy goes down, the dwell time obviously goes up. However, 

if the number of deployments goes up, that will go in the opposite 

direction. 

It has been a concern of the past couple Chiefs of Staff that we 

get it for quality of life as well as for retention. So I will take that 

for the record and get you the exact number. 

[The information referred to can be found in the Appendix on 

page 107.] 

General BRILAKIS. Sir, as a commander of our recruiting forces, 

the issue of dwell is more, as General Seamands mentioned, more 

a career and retention issue. 

With respect to the Marine Corps, it is not necessarily the number of individuals in the service. It is the number of units. Because 

by and large, we redeploy as units. 

So there are some reductions based on the overall drawdown of 

my service and some of the other services as well that will affect 

dwell. But there is nothing really—with respect to what we are 

doing, there are some retention issues. But as our recruiting commander, I am not in a position to be able to comment. 

Mr. SCOTT. As we go forward, one of the other questions I have, 

has the average age of a recruit changed or has it stayed the same? 

Has the economy had an impact on people who are say 25, 26 looking to get into the service more so than they have in the past? 

General BRILAKIS. With respect to the Marine Corps, about 50 

percent of our enlistees are coming out of high school. We have focused and have been focused for years on a high school market 

where we get good quality, highly propensed and motivated young 

Americans to come and be marines. 

Outside of—that other 50 percent then is what we call the grad 

market, or those that you—were once—at one point in time in high 

school and now are looking for an opportunity and a challenge. 

That age has increased a bit, not substantially. But I would have 

to take that for the record and get back to you on specifics. 

[The information referred to can be found in the Appendix on 

page 107.] 

Mr. SCOTT. Thank you. 
16 

General GROSSO. Sir, the average of an Air Force recruit is about 

201⁄2 years of age. And if you look at the 10-year average it is 20, 

so it has slightly gone up in the last couple of years. 

Mr. SCOTT. I represent Robins Air Force Base and Moody. So if 

you are down there, please let me know. 

Admiral ANDREWS. Sir, for the Navy, the average age is about 19 

years old, but we have seen a lot that are coming in due to the 

economy that we get them in a little older. And some have at least 

a high school diploma as well as from junior colleges. 

In reference to your question on dwell time, we are at this 

present time rolling out what is known as the Optimized Fleet Response Plan to create a better predictability. And I would be more 

than happy to take this back and get some data for you, sir, and 

take this one for the record. 

[The information referred to can be found in the Appendix on 

page 107.] 

Mr. SCOTT. Thank you, ma’am. One last question for you, Admiral. Savannah State University. Are you from Georgia or did you 

just choose to go to school in that great State? 

Admiral ANDREWS. Sir, I am from the great State of Georgia. 

Mr. SCOTT. Yes, ma’am. I am too. Where? Are you from Savannah? 

Admiral ANDREWS. Near Hinesville, sir. Small town about maybe 

45 minutes south of it. 

Mr. SCOTT. Yes, ma’am. I know right where it is. I am from 

Tifton. 

Admiral ANDREWS. Very well, sir. 

Mr. SCOTT. Thank you for your service. 

Admiral ANDREWS. Thank you, sir. 

Mr. SCOTT. Chairman, I yield the remainder of my time. 

Mr. WILSON. Thank you, Congressman Scott. And we now proceed to Congressman Dr. Brad Wenstrup of Ohio. 

Dr. WENSTRUP. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I was a pretty cheap 

recruit. In 1998, I just called 1–800–USA–ARMY and said I would 

like to join. It didn’t take a whole lot of marketing there, and proud 

to have served. 

And when I was in Iraq, I had the opportunity to take three of 

our enlisted to the Al-Faw palace for a ceremony where I saw about 

100 soldiers and marines being sworn in as U.S. citizens. It was 

a pretty moving event to see these people that would put the American flag on their sleeve and be willing to die for the country that 

they weren’t even citizens of yet. 

And so I just need a little update if I can. Under current law, 

are foreign citizens able to join the U.S. military without, say, legal 

residence in the United States? These all had legal—the ones I 

worked with had legal residency in the United States and then 

joined the military. But can you join if you are from Canada, for 

example, and want to serve in our military? 

Ms. PENROD. Yes, Dr. Wenstrup, I can take that. 

If you are a legal resident, a Green Card holder, you are able to 

join the military. 

We also have a program called Military Accessions Vital to the 

National Interest, which are bringing in non-immigrants, which is 
17 

our visa card holders. That program currently has 1,500. It is a 

pilot program. So there isn’t the ability to do that. 

But those are our two programs. 

Dr. WENSTRUP. And when people do that, either as legal residents or in that program, does that fast-track them to U.S. citizenship? 

Ms. PENROD. Yes, sir. While we are in combat—or, I should say, 

war. It is fast-tracked from the day you enter; we begin working 

with the individual to process them for citizenship. 

Dr. WENSTRUP. In peacetime, is it different? 

Ms. PENROD. It is different in peacetime. 

In peacetime, it is—you have the Green Card holders. And it 

takes about a year for them to work through citizenship. 

Dr. WENSTRUP. So they still do it but it just takes a little bit 

longer? 

Ms. PENROD. Yes, sir. 

Dr. WENSTRUP. Are many in the past 10 years, have many been 

taking advantage of that? And will that still be an opportunity for 

people? 

Ms. PENROD. We have provided citizenship to 92,000. And that 

is in—now that includes those already on Active Duty, those that 

come into the service, and some of our veterans. 

So it is about 92,000. 

Dr. WENSTRUP. Okay. 

Thank you. 

I yield back. 

Mr. WILSON. Thank you very much. And we now proceed to Congressman Mike Coffman of Colorado. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for inviting me to this 

important hearing today on the current and future recruiting challenges of our armed services. 

As an Army and as a Marine Corps combat veteran, I am proud 

of the extraordinary current level of talent in the armed services 

that has developed under the all-volunteer military that we have 

today. 

However, I am worried that the future pool of recruits may not 

be able to maintain the elite standards that we have established. 

Factors such as an improving economy, cultural changes, and how 

a generation views military service, or when our Nation is engaged 

in conflicts that, quite frankly, may lack popular support, all these 

factors can contribute to the number of qualified applicants applying to be in our military. 

One of the more distressing issues that has been brought up here 

today is the shrinking pool of eligible enlistees. Less than 30 percent of eligible 17- to 25-year-olds qualify for military service, according to 2009 mission readiness study. Although the force is 

shrinking, as you move from a wartime posture, as members of this 

committee, as the HASC [House Armed Services Committee] committee—— 

[Laughter.] 

Mr. COFFMAN [continuing]. And for the members of this subcommittee, I think we must always plan to have the deepest pool 

of eligible and qualified recruits possible to ensure we are ready to 

meet all and future challenges. 
18 

Therefore, the question we have to ask is how to maintain standards while choosing from a decreasing pool of recruits. Of course, 

one answer is to widen the pool of potential recruits. 

For this reason, I introduced legislation that would widen the enlistment statute, section 504 of the U.S. Code, to allow not only 

natural born citizens and legal permanent residents to enlist, but 

also temporary visa holders and individuals approved under the 

Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals or DACA program, which is administered by DHS [Department of Homeland Security]. 

Including this group of potential applicants will broaden our enlistment pool in preparation for any future engagements, help recruiters maintain high standards, allow the processing of fewer 

waiver requests, and minimize the need for bonuses and other financial incentives for enlistment. I worked closely with experts in 

the field of immigration and military law to develop a proposal that 

works both as an immigration and as a military enlistment measure. 

At this time, I would like to ask unanimous consent to submit 

a letter written by one such expert, Retired Lieutenant Colonel 

Margaret Stock, into the record, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. WILSON. Yes. 

[The information referred to can be found in the Appendix on 

page 81.] 

Mr. COFFMAN. This paper details the reasons why the current 

enlistment statute is flawed and why H.R. 435 provides the best 

remedy. Again, Mr. Chairman, thank you for allowing me to be 

here today. 

Ms. Penrod, on a related question, prior to the enactment of the 

current consolidated enlistment statute, section 504, in 2006, there 

were no statutory limitations on wartime recruitment of individuals regardless of immigration status. 

In 2006, the Pentagon asked Congress to limit enlistment of persons without Green Cards. So today, a person who is not a U.S. national, a Green Card holder, cannot enlist unless he or she is quoteunquote—‘‘vital to the national interest.’’ 

Why was the statute amended in 2006 when the effect would be 

to limit the military manpower pool in wartime? 

Have there been any internal discussions to alter the current 

statute by implementing the changes sought by H.R. 435? 

Ms. PENROD. Congressman, I am not aware of why the change. 

I would need to get back to you on that particular issue. 

[The information referred to can be found in the Appendix on 

page 109.] 

Ms. PENROD. Although the Department’s policy is not to comment on pending legislation, I will say that the Department of Defense has long supported the DREAM Act [Development, Relief, 

and Education for Alien Minors] and its tenets, which would provide a path of citizenship through military service for undocumented aliens who enter the country before age 16. 

We do believe it would—it is important to expand the pool of eligible youth and the—one issue that would be problematic is if the 

Department were asked to determine immigration status of the individual. 

But we do support expanding the pool. 
19 

Mr. COFFMAN. Okay. 

What is DOD’s policy or regulation with regard to the enlistment 

of American citizens or legal immigrants who have family members 

who are not authorized to be in the United States? 

Ms. PENROD. Well, the Department currently does not have a 

policy on undocumented family members. That issue has been 

brought to our attention, when the Department of Homeland Security standardized the parole-in-place policy. Because of that, we 

have formed a working group of the services. We are working 

across agencies with the Department of Homeland Security to look 

at what are some of the issues with regard to that population. 

For example, security clearances, obtaining ID cards and as we 

work through that process, we will be more than happy to come 

over here and report on that status. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back. 

Mr. WILSON. Thank you, Congressman Coffman. 

And we now proceed to Congresswoman Niki Tsongas of Massachusetts. 

Ms. TSONGAS. Thank you all for being here today. We know what 

challenges you confront in such a fiscally constrained environment 

and so we appreciate your coming here to talk about how we recruit the best and brightest going forward. 

I wanted to bring up an issue that is particularly evident in my 

home State of Massachusetts. Massachusetts is home to two remarkable installations, one Air Force and one Army, that are developing some of the premier technical advances in some of the 

military’s most complex endeavors. Hanscom Air Force Base is 

known as the birthplace of modern radar and airspace management and continues to be credited with developing programs with 

great technological achievement. 

And Natick Soldier Systems is delivering incredible lifesaving capabilities to our soldiers. During a recent visit to Natick, General 

Odierno, who we were so glad to have come to Massachusetts, stated, quote—‘‘The work they do at Natick is critical for our future. 

These are the kinds of technologies that we need.’’ 

But I have heard concerning stories from each of these installations about how sequestration, furloughs, hiring freezes, program 

delays, and budget cuts, including pay cuts, have made it more difficult for them to retain and recruit the highly specialized personnel needed to fulfill this important work. 

And I am also very troubled by the message sent by the reduction in research, development, test, and evaluation funding that is 

part of the omnibus package moving through Congress. 

We are now experiencing the steepest cut, percentage cut in research and development funding seen in any economic downturn 

since the end of World War II, at a time when our challenges are 

becoming ever more complex. 

So as a result, the private sector is becoming the primary choice 

for highly skilled personnel at an alarming rate, particularly when 

we look at the losses within our defense labs. I have worried that 

this talent drain, both in our uniformed and civilian ranks, will 

compromise our ability to successfully achieve our national security 

objectives in the future. 
20 

We know that we will always confront threats from increasingly 

capable adversaries and our military will constantly need to execute future missions with even greater agility and precision despite 

fewer resources. But it is going to require an investment in military innovation and the brainpower needed for us to, despite these 

challenges, keep the technological edge. 

So my question is, I would like to hear from all of you if possible. 

I would like to hear more about what the services are doing to 

recruit the skilled workforce you need, but also to retain the highly 

skilled civilian workforce that plays such a key role in these technological advances that are taking place at so many of our defense 

labs. 

And I don’t know if you would like to begin speaking on behalf 

of the Defense Department. 

Ms. PENROD. Thank you, ma’am. 

I am not aware of the particular issues at Hanscom, other locations. We are aware that with the furloughs and the pay cuts that 

we need to keep our eye on the impacts, especially to the civilian 

workforce. But also to our military and retention. So we are providing oversight; we are watching that and we provide that information up through our leadership when we see signs that we are 

starting to have difficulty. 

Ms. TSONGAS. General. 

General SEAMANDS. Ma’am, for the Army, we have been able to 

maintain the right number of quality. But as we look at some of 

our growth areas, like cyber, that is an increasing challenge. Our 

recruiters are going out there in high schools and going after 

STEM [science, technology, engineering, math], the scientific technology and math, not only for our soldiers but also for our officers 

at places like West Point and ROTC, where we have driven the 

number of STEM degrees up in both cases, because we recognize 

that the increased requirement for technical abilities in the future. 

In terms of the civilian workforce, ma’am, that is a little bit outside of my purview. But I will tell you within my section, having 

them, the civilians’ work furloughed did have an impact on our personnel policy, because they work there and oftentimes it is a onedeep person position. So we need to work through that in the 

future. 

Ms. TSONGAS. How do you calibrate the need between the civilian 

side and the military side? 

How do the services deal with that as well? 

I mean, since you need both? 

General SEAMANDS. Part of it is in the force structure that is designed, which calls for either military or civilian; in some cases, civilians are on the documents in order to provide continuity and 

depth in areas, whereas the military tend to move around a little 

bit more. 

General BRILAKIS. Congresswoman, thank you for your question. 

With respect to civilians overall policies, beyond the scope of my 

responsibilities; however, I do have civilians within the recruiting 

command. 

And I think part of our challenges on retaining good quality, 

high-performing civilians is the fact that for years, for a number 

of years, they received no pay raises. 
21 

They were the butt of particular jokes, and it is just quite frankly, an issue of respect and how we look at the civilian workforce 

and how we treat them. 

You know, there are challenges with respect to resources, et 

cetera, and I understand that. But overall, we can look in the mirror and see where some of the challenges are in retaining some of 

our really good civilians. 

They are an incredibly committed, patriotic group of individuals, 

but we have challenged them, I think, in the last few years with 

respect to them staying. 

With respect to attaining high-quality personnel, the Marine 

Corps tends to—you know, my focus is on selling the Marine Corps, 

and not specific jobs. 

We have requirements; we look for good quality people. Our 

officer-recruiting focuses and understands that we are competing 

with corporate America and the other military services, and that 

is a high bar for us to pass over. 

And so we use just a broad range of techniques and efforts to 

make sure that we are attracting high-quality, talented, and enthusiastic individuals to take up the challenge to become marines. 

Admiral ANDREWS. Congresswoman, thank you so much for your 

question. 

As far as for high quality, the Navy also looks into the STEM 

program, making sure that we can have those high, technical 

science, technology, engineering, and math. 

We go after those because we know that those are the ones that 

we will need to take our Navy into the next century. 

As far as with our civilians, I will take that one for the record. 

I can’t comment on that. But I would like to say about our civilian 

sailors, is that that certainly was missed during the furlough. You 

can tell that that was a big miss. 

[The information referred to can be found in the Appendix beginning on page 108.] 

Admiral ANDREWS. We work closely together, hand in hand. We 

work as a team. And we want to continue to do that, and we also 

know that the furlough certainly set that back. It only brings about 

working much more with the military and increasing their hours 

as well. 

And for the Hanscom, I am not familiar with that, as well, 

ma’am. 

Ms. TSONGAS. It is more the broader issue that Hanscom and 

Navy raised—the need for these qualified personnel in general. 

Yes. 

Admiral ANDREWS. Thank you, ma’am. 

Ms. TSONGAS. Yes. 

General GROSSO. Ma’am, strengthening the public’s awareness of 

STEM in association with the Air Force is an enduring priority in 

our marketing and advertising strategy on the military side. 

And we have actually been very successful, on both the officer 

and the enlisted side, recruiting the STEM talent that we need to 

fill the requirements that are associated with that. 

The civilian side is a concern to us as well, and it is a difficult 

challenge, especially when you look—as the size of the civilian force 

gets smaller, and the rules that govern how you handle reducing 
22 

the size of the workforce, what you find is that your young people— 

and we value longevity, and so what happens, is your youngest person is typically that one that is let go, I would say. I think that 

is tremendously challenging. 

And I will take for the record, to get you some—I am not familiar 

with all the things that we are doing to try to bring civilians into— 

in particularly with STEM, and I know we have issues at Robins, 

I was not familiar with concerns at Hanscom. 

But I will take that for the record. 

Ms. TSONGAS. I would actually appreciate if all of you would take 

it for the record, because I think it is an important issue. 

[The information referred to can be found in the Appendix beginning on page 107.] 

So thank you and I yield back, I appreciate your giving me additional time. 

Mr. WILSON. Very important, and thank you, Congresswoman 

Tsongas. 

We now proceed to Congressman Jeff Denham of California. 

Mr. DENHAM. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

I have seen, first hand, some of the challenges with recruitment 

and its impact on military readiness. I was one of those 17-yearolds that signed up for the military with my local recruiter when 

I was in high school. 

And also want to see the opportunity for those men and women 

that came here as kids, through no fault of their own, that have 

gone to school, side by side with us, that have gone to ROTC, that 

have graduated from our education system also have those same 

opportunities. 

So, I am pleased today to offer my bill, The ENLIST Act, as a 

partial solution to the recruitment challenges of the future. 

I look forward to working with members of this committee as 

well as Chairman McKeon, as well as our expert witnesses that are 

here today, to expand the enlistment eligible population to include 

undocumented, American-grown individuals who have been 

brought into this country as children and otherwise are eligible to 

serve in our U.S. Armed Forces. 

As a nation, we have never made citizenship a requirement for 

service in the Armed Forces. Since the founding of our Nation, noncitizens have been a part of our military and Congress has seen fit 

to make military service a way for patriotic individuals, from other 

countries, to show their allegiance to our flag and become U.S. citizens. 

More than 660,000 military veterans have become citizens 

through naturalization from 1862 to 2000. These men and women 

have proven they are prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for 

their adopted country. 

For the many thousands of young, undocumented immigrants 

who graduate from our public and private high schools each year, 

military service would offer an avenue for them to serve the United 

States and earn a legal status in the country they love. 

As someone who served, I remember the pride that I had wearing the uniform, and cannot think of a better way for these young 

people to earn the right to fully share in the rights and freedoms 

of America. 
23 

Couple of questions for our witnesses today. Heard on your testimony that there are men and women that do gain citizenship, some 

are naturalized. 

Is there any difference in service and capability and dedication 

between somebody who is a naturalized service member versus an 

American-born service member? 

Ms. PENROD. Thank you, sir, for your support of our military and 

recruiting. 

We find that individuals we bring into the military from all the 

areas of the United States, whether they are legal immigrants, citizens, perform exceptionally well. 

The quality is very high in the military and we do not distinguish between whether you are a legal immigrant or a legal nonimmigrant and whether or not you are citizen, as far as, once you 

are in the military, we do not track that. 

However, I can say that our records show that all perform at a 

very high quality. 

Mr. DENHAM. Thank you. Others care to comment? 

The second question. If either my bill or Congressman Coffman’s 

bill were enacted into law, what efforts would the Department or 

each service branch have to undertake to ensure that these individuals meet the eligibility requirements? 

Ms. PENROD. Well, sir, as I stated earlier, it is Department policy 

not to comment on pending legislation. 

I can state that we have always supported the DREAM Act, 

which would provide a path of citizenship for our undocumented individuals that came into country before age 16. 

We do believe it would be problematic if legislation were passed 

and the Department were required to determine what the immigration status is. 

But we would follow the law and whatever decision or legislation 

is passed, then we would implement that. 

Mr. DENHAM. So under the situation where you have got the Deferred Action, or the DACA, the status would be defined. They 

would be undocumented but would be able to legally be here, and 

now under this legislation, be legally able to serve in the military? 

Does that appear to have any problems in eligibility—— 

Ms. PENROD. If a law is passed or changed where a group of individuals are now legally allowed to come in the military, then they 

would be like any other individual that today can come into a recruiting office and request to come in the military. 

Mr. DENHAM. I yield back the balance of my time. 

Thank you. 

Mr. WILSON. And thank you very much, Congressman Denham, 

thank you for being here and your promotion of your efforts. 

And Mrs. Davis, would you like to make a concluding? 

Mrs. DAVIS. I just had one question, because I think it is fair to 

bring it up. During the discussions that we had around sexual assault, I think, it is probably fair to say that the military got a black 

eye during those discussions. 

And a number of witnesses suggested, in addition to the many, 

many reasons for that, including what civil society looks like. 

But I suggested that perhaps too many waivers had been given 

during the time that our operational tempo was very high. 
24 

Could you comment on that? And what you think that means 

today? And how we are going about looking at that situation. 

Ms. PENROD. Yes, Congresswoman Davis, I can tell you that our 

policy is we do not allow waivers of any individual convicted of sexual assault, sexual predators—they are not allowed to come in the 

military. 

Mrs. DAVIS. I think part of what was suggested is that records 

were such that there might have been some areas that were questionable but they didn’t pick them up or it wasn’t stringent enough. 

Anybody want to? 

General BRILAKIS. Ma’am, during that time, when the question 

came up, we did, as Ms. Penrod alluded to, we got through and 

checked every enlistment and every marine. Every marine I had on 

recruiting duty and I had none that had a previous history or conviction of sexual assault, physical abuse, et cetera. 

And we have now made that a service standard and part of our 

accessions effort and policy to ensure that no individual who has 

a proclivity or history of sexual violence, sexual assault, et cetera, 

is even considered for accession in the Marine Corps. 

Admiral ANDREWS. For the Navy, ma’am, with the recruiters, we 

also went back and made sure that we can check. And we didn’t 

have any that was of that—and any nature or of convictions of any. 

And we continue to train. 

I think we better understand, we have momentum, we are having intrusive leadership, we are out there, we are training, we are 

talking and this is all the way from the recruits coming in the door, 

within 72 hours they know as well as throughout the Navy, ma’am. 

General GROSSO. And, ma’am, I have the data for fiscal year 

2013, 8 percent of our recruits came in with a waiver and 98 percent of those waivers were for medical. So very few airmen have 

come in with a conduct waiver, 61. And I can get you the exact details on those 61, ma’am. 

Mrs. DAVIS. Thank you. 

[The information referred to was not available at the time of 

printing.] 

General SEAMANDS. Ma’am, from the Army, if you go back the 

last couple years, we typically brought between 11 percent and 12 

percent people in with waivers. And, like the Air Force, the vast 

majority were for medical reasons. 

I will acknowledge, in the years we were doing Grow the Army, 

there are probably some people who wouldn’t be, that certainly 

wouldn’t be admitted today into the force. And, thus, the small 

number of waivers for misconduct. Each one of those is investigated as they go. 

In terms of sexual assault, ma’am, I would offer that from the 

Chief of Staff of the Army all the way down to recruiters, they understand what is at stake. They understand it is a matter of respect. It is a matter of leadership and character. And every one of 

our recruiters is taught what they can and cannot do. We have a 

buddy system with the recruiters to make sure they understand 

what the rules are, what their engagement is with the citizens to 

make sure that no lines are crossed. 

Mr. WILSON. Thank you very much, Mrs. Davis. 

Chairman Heck. 
25 

Dr. HECK. Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate your indulgence in allowing me a follow-up. Because the point that was just made about 

waivers, I think, goes back to the question that I originally asked 

Ms. Penrod. 

While the accession qualifications may not have dropped below 

the 90 percent threshold, the ability to issue conduct waivers is 

something that is fungible and fluctuates. I think that as one of my 

concerns, is that if we are getting to a point where we are having 

difficulty meeting accession requirements, if all of a sudden, we 

start to see a growth in the number of waivers—not necessarily 

medical, but in conduct waivers. And so, I just wanted to get that 

out there as something that I think is—that we are going to need 

to keep track of and report back. 

Thank you, Mr. Chair. 

Mr. WILSON. Thank you, Chairman Heck. And as we conclude, 

I think it is very appropriate that Mrs. Davis brought it up about 

criminal sexual assault. Because to me, it always was most insulting because we are to, in the military, protect each other’s back. 

And I look at it as a family. 

And, again, I want to thank you for providing opportunities for 

American families. Our family, this weekend, is going to be participating—our youngest son, Hunter, just concluded his service, Army 

National Guard Engineer, in Afghanistan. And for American families, this is just so meaningful. We have a 2-day conference of briefings to the members, to their family members, explaining what the 

different opportunities there are for future service, if there are any 

problems which can be addressed. And I truly have seen our military advance to be so family-friendly with opportunity. 

Thank you. We are adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 11:15 a.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.] 

A P P E N D I X 

JANUARY 16, 2014 

PREPARED STATEMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD 

JANUARY 16, 2014 

(31) 
32 
33 
34 
35 
36 
37 
38 
39 
40 
41 
42 
43 
44 
45 
46 
47 
48 
49 
50 
51 
52 
53 
54 
55 
56 
57 
58 
59 
60 
61 
62 
63 
64 
65 
66 
67 
68 
69 
70 
71 
72 
73 
74 
75 
76 
77 
78 
DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD 

JANUARY 16, 2014 

(81) 
82 
83 
84 
85 
86 
87 
88 
89 
90 
91 
92 
93 
94 
95 
96 
97 
98 
99 
100 
101 
102 
103 

WITNESS RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS ASKED DURING 

THE HEARING 

JANUARY 16, 2014 

(107) 

RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MR. SCOTT 

General SEAMANDS. The Army’s current active component dwell ratio is 1:2.73 (deployed time:home station time). Our goal is 1:2, 1 year deployed, 2 years at home. 

We are currently exceeding our dwell ratio goal which is a positive factor in our Recruiting and Retention efforts. [See page 15.] 

General BRILAKIS. The Marine Corps traditionally recruits 50% of enlistees from 

the 17–18 year old high school market. The remaining 50% of enlistees have already 

graduated high school, commonly referred to as ‘‘The Grad Market.’’ Over the past 

five years from FY09–FY13 the average enlistee from ‘‘The Grad Market’’ has remained consistent at 23 years old. [See page 15.] 

Admiral ANDREWS. Dwell time has no direct impact on recruiting. A typical recruit applicant is not concerned about, or even aware of dwell time, and chooses to 

enter the Navy with the expectation of serving at sea. [See page 16.] 

RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MS. TSONGAS 

Ms. PENROD. Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) underpin 

DOD’s ability to defend the Nation. Developing a highly competent STEM workforce 

requires partnerships among government, industry and academia. Emerging mission requirements pose STEM workforce challenges for DOD. However, the Department is committed to the development of a world-class STEM talent pool and workforce with the creativity and agility to meet national defense needs. The Department 

has a number of initiatives underway to attract, develop, and retain a highly proficient, agile, and effective STEM workforce. DOD STEM workplace efforts are 

based on development of programs to strengthen and broaden the STEM talent pool 

across the education continuum, and to leverage recognized best practices to increase the effectiveness of current STEM hiring practices and procedures. Initiatives 

include: • Multiple programs offering internship opportunities from high school through 

post-graduate school. These programs provide students meaningful training and 

career development opportunities and potential candidates for STEM positions 

in many different fields. Programs include, but are not limited to, the Science, 

Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship Program, 

DOD Centralized Apprenticeship Program (DCAP), Student Training and Academic Recruitment (STAR) Program and Pathways Programs. • The DOD Science and Technology Reinvention Laboratory Demonstration 

projects are using numerous human resources flexibilities to attract, recruit and 

retain highly skilled workforce by providing competitive salary offers through 

the use of pay banding, and rewarding high performers through contributionbased and pay-for-performance programs. Most significantly, the demonstration 

projects have access to several direct hire authorities to recruit science and engineering candidates, including qualified veterans, at both the undergraduate 

and advanced degree levels. 

To retain its STEM talent, the Department seeks to ensure a challenging, rewarding, and inclusive work environment. That includes fostering creative and innovative leadership to motivate and engage the workforce, promoting opportunities for 

education, training, and career growth, and leveraging STEM workforce expertise 

to deliver innovative solutions for the Nation’s current and future defense challenges. [See page 22.] 

General SEAMANDS. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Department of Army Science and Technology Reinvention Laboratories (STRL) participate 

in STEM Outreach (K–12 and Universities/Colleges) to excite and engage diverse 

students to consider careers in STEM and to influence them to consider the U.S. 

Army as an employer of choice. They each have a robust Intern Program and support undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees in STEM disciplines. 

Recruiting the right talent in STEM fields to meet current challenges and projected workload is critical to the accomplishment of mission requirements. However, 

it has become more difficult to fill STEM jobs due to a decreasing supply of available candidates and competition with other federal agencies and the private sector 

for the same talent pool. 

To retain critical STEM skilled employees, we encourage employees to partner 

with mentors and to explore training and certification opportunities comparable to 

those of their career-military counterparts. We ensure our workforce understands 
108 

the value of obtaining and maintaining licenses and certifications, which improves 

their professional competence and increases individual and organizational credibility. 

Fostering the development of our employees and providing the opportunity to 

manage diverse projects allows our STEM employees to remain fully competitive 

with industry in retaining the highest-qualified talent, and ensure that our workforce can effectively and expeditiously meet emerging challenges. 

We utilize incentives, quality of life programs, wellness programs, work/life balance, employee engagement, and telework to sustain our STEM employees. In addition, we work to ensure that STEM employees’ contributions/achievements are recognized with monetary and non-monetary awards. [See page 21.] 

General BRILAKIS. The Marine Corps recognizes the importance of understanding 

the functional requirements of each position and the vital role they play in accomplishing the mission of the command. In order to ensure our commands are planning to acquire, develop, and retain the personnel necessary to fill each position, the 

Marine Corps has formalized two strategic workforce programs that ensure commands and functional leaders are planning for the needs of their future workforce. 

The first is the Command-Level Strategic Workforce Planning Process, which requires commands to conduct a position-by-position review, determine the needs and 

trends associated with those positions over the next five years and develop a strategy to acquire, develop, and retain the talent necessary to ensure mission success. 

The second is the USMC Community of Interest program that establishes senior 

leaders in each functional area of the workforce (i.e. Intelligence, Information Technology, etc.) and has them focus on the technical needs required to develop and sustain that talent/capability within the Marine Corps. Between these two initiatives, 

the Marine Corps will be able to adapt to the changing landscape and proactively 

plan to have the talent needed in the future. [See page 22.] 

Admiral ANDREWS. Department of the Navy (DoN) manages nearly 195,000 civilians with over 61,000 scientists and engineers conducting research, development, acquisition, maintenance, test and evaluation to deliver and sustain affordable 

warfighting capabilities to Sailors and Marines. 

DoN manages and participates in several programs to sustain, grow, retain, and 

recruit the future civilian workforce. The Science, Mathematics & Research for 

Transformation (SMART) and Naval Acquisition Development Program (NADP) are 

two examples of these programs. The SMART program is a scholarship for service 

program where the Department of Defense (DOD) provides scholarship funds for undergraduate and graduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields at over 200 universities and colleges including Historically 

Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). While at college, SMART students work 

in the DOD Labs and facilities under mentorship, gaining valuable experience prior 

to fulltime employment with DOD. The NADP program has been managed by DoN 

for over 20 years. NADP is a centrally funded full time two-to-four year training 

program executed by the Director, Career Acquisition Management (DACM) via the 

Naval Acquisition Career Center (NACC). The objective of the program is to centrally hire, train, develop, and certify acquisition workforce personnel to replenish/ 

sustain the Acquisition Workforce in nearly all career fields. Upon successful program completion, graduates are matched to a command. Over 8,000 personnel have 

graduated into the Acquisition Workforce since inception of the program. 

Because the development of the workforce is key to retention and key to meeting 

evolving National challenges, the Naval Innovative Science and Engineering (NISE) 

program authorized under Section 219 of the FY2009 National Defense Authorization Act for the Naval Laboratories and Centers, has been instrumental. This has 

been an important authority to expand the technical capabilities of this workforce 

through hands-on work as well as providing training and advance degrees. NISE efforts have provided breakthrough research and been responsible for the maturation 

and transition of technology to the warfighter and programs of record. NISE has encouraged cross-organizational multi-disciplinary projects that include partnerships 

with academia and industry. DoN continues outreach initiatives and workforce focused programs for STEM by maximizing partnerships with other Federal, public, 

private and academic STEM efforts. Prime outreach goals include diversity and inclusion and support of Naval families. 

However, under sequestration and continuing resolution, DoN was forced to implement a hiring freeze of civilians for over nine months, from mid-January 2013 

through October 2013. Starting in FY 2014, DoN has been deploying a hiring strategy considerate of budgets. The hiring freeze may impact long term S&T recruitment, so DoN continues to evaluate the possible impacts. [See page 21.] 

General GROSSO. Despite funding cuts, furlough, and sequestration, the Air Force 

Scientist and Engineering (S&E) career field has maintained a 92% or higher reten-
109 

tion rate for its civilian S&E workforce. Over the last five years the S&E retention 

rate has been consistently stable at approximately 93%. 

We’ve been very successful recruiting civilians into the Air Force acquisition workforce, including those with STEM degrees. From FY09 through FY13, we’ve grown 

our civilian S&E community by over 1,300, many in acquisition, including a 100% 

increase in Computer Science personnel, as well as significant increases in Electrical 

Engineers, Aerospace Engineers and General Engineers employed at each of our acquisition centers and their locations, including Hanscom AFB in Massachusetts. 

In part, our recruiting success reflects the unique opportunities the Air Force offers civilians to serve in careers where they can contribute to developing cutting 

edge technology and serving in and leading our acquisition and sustainment programs in a variety of technical and business career fields. The challenging nature 

of our civilian jobs and the opportunity for significant responsibility early in a career are especially appealing to the modern millennial generation. But to reach 

these candidates, first we have to inform them that there are civilian jobs in the 

Air Force! 

The Air Force acquisition community has undertaken an initiative to enhance 

civil service recruiting for the acquisition workforce, both STEM and non-STEM, 

through the branding of our major acquisition centers and development of enhanced 

recruiting web sites encompassing the entire Air Force acquisition community. We 

began this initiative at Hanscom AFB in 2008 in response to recruiting challenges 

there, and based on its success, were able to expand to the rest of our major acquisition locations using the Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund established by Congress in FY08. Our recruiting and branding initiative has transformed 

our ability to advertise and recruit nationwide. We have focused this initiative to 

the modern millennial generation of talented workers that are now entering the 

workforce. Our approach targets passive candidates, candidates with specific skills 

sets, and specific geographic locations. Active and passive candidates can quickly 

learn about Air Force acquisition organizations and work life, but also see what job 

opportunities are available. Social Media is a part of this generation’s daily life; 

therefore we have a presence on Linked In, Facebook and Twitter using mobile supported versions of our web presence. This capability is supporting local recruiting 

efforts in order to enhance our ability to compete for the top talent in the marketplace and is designed to complement the Air Force Personnel Center’s civilian recruiting efforts. 

The Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund established by FY08 

NDAA Section 852 has also been invaluable in augmenting Air Force funding in 

order to extend our ability to offer incentives when needed as part of our civilian 

recruiting and retention efforts. A primary example of keen interest to candidates 

who have invested in a STEM degree is our ability to offer student loan repayment, 

as well as fully funded tuition assistance for new hires who wish to continue their 

education in an acquisition related field. 

We continue to pursue authorities and flexibilities that can build on our recruiting 

success, especially for STEM jobs. Draft legislation currently on the Hill, for example, would extend the direct hire authority currently available for recruiting graduates at the master’s level for Lab Demo organizations to recent graduates at the 

bachelor’s level being recruited into STEM professional career fields for Lab Demo 

organizations. Recent graduates will not wait 60–90 days for a firm offer. The ability of recruiters to make firm offers on campus for all STEM professional recent 

graduates at the bachelor’s and master’s level for acquisition/STEM professionals 

would significantly enhance STEM recruiting and help ensure our STEM workforce 

is viable for the future. [See page 22.] 

RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MR. COFFMAN 

Ms. PENROD. The change in 2006 was completed to provide consistency in statute 

for all the Services in line with existing DOD Policy. Prior to the National Defense 

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006, Title 10, United States Code, Sections 3253 

and 8253, stated that to be eligible for enlistment in the Army or Air Force in time 

of peace, an individual must be an American citizen or lawfully admitted to the 

United States for permanent residence (Green Card). While there was no equivalent 

statute limiting enlistment in the Navy and Marine Corps, the same citizenship requirements were applied to those Services in policy. [See page 18.] 

Æ