U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

i 

25–837 2018

[H.A.S.C. No. 115–44] 

HEARING 

ON

NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT 

FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018 

AND

OVERSIGHT OF PREVIOUSLY AUTHORIZED 

PROGRAMS 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON MILITARY PERSONNEL HEARING 

ON

MILITARY PERSONNEL POSTURE: 

FISCAL YEAR 2018 

HEARING HELD 

MAY 17, 2017 
(II) 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON MILITARY PERSONNEL 

MIKE COFFMAN, Colorado, Chairman 

WALTER B. JONES, North Carolina 

BRAD R. WENSTRUP, Ohio, Vice Chair 

STEVE RUSSELL, Oklahoma 

DON BACON, Nebraska 

MARTHA MCSALLY, Arizona 

RALPH LEE ABRAHAM, Louisiana 

TRENT KELLY, Mississippi 

JACKIE SPEIER, California 

ROBERT A. BRADY, Pennsylvania 

NIKI TSONGAS, Massachusetts 

RUBEN GALLEGO, Arizona 

CAROL SHEA-PORTER, New Hampshire 

JACKY ROSEN, Nevada 

DAVE GIACHETTI, Professional Staff Member 

CRAIG GREENE, Professional Staff Member 

DANIELLE STEITZ, Clerk 
(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

Page 

STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS 

Coffman, Hon. Mike, a Representative from Colorado, Chairman, Subcommittee on Military Personnel .................................................................................... 1 

Speier, Hon. Jackie, a Representative from California, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Military Personnel ........................................................................ 1 

WITNESSES 

Brilakis, LtGen Mark A., USMC, Deputy Commandant for Manpower and 

Reserve Affairs, United States Marine Corps .................................................... 4 

Burke, VADM Robert P., USN, Chief of Naval Personnel, United States 

Navy ...................................................................................................................... 3 

Grosso, Lt Gen Gina M., USAF, Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower, Personnel and Services, United States Air Force ................................................... 5 

McConville, LTG James C., USA, Deputy Chief of Staff, G–1, United States 

Army ...................................................................................................................... 2 

APPENDIX 

PREPARED STATEMENTS: 

Brilakis, LtGen Mark A. .................................................................................. 60 

Burke, VADM Robert P. .................................................................................. 47 

Coffman, Hon. Mike ......................................................................................... 33 

Grosso, Lt Gen Gina M. ................................................................................... 78 

McConville, LTG James C. .............................................................................. 34 

DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD: 

[There were no Documents submitted.] 

WITNESS RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS ASKED DURING THE HEARING: 

Mr. Coffman ...................................................................................................... 97 

Ms. Speier ......................................................................................................... 98 

QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MEMBERS POST HEARING: 

[There were no Questions submitted post hearing.] 

(1) 

MILITARY PERSONNEL POSTURE: FISCAL YEAR 2018 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON MILITARY PERSONNEL, Washington, DC, Wednesday, May 17, 2017. 

The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 3:30 p.m., in room 

2118, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Mike Coffman (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MIKE COFFMAN, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM COLORADO, CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON 

MILITARY PERSONNEL 

Mr. COFFMAN. Please be seated. I want to welcome everyone to 

the Military Personnel Subcommittee’s hearing on the state of the 

military service personnel systems as we enter the fiscal year 2018 

budget season. 

Our panel of the service personnel chiefs is here to address each 

of their services’ personnel postures, including personnel policies 

for recruiting and retention, family programs, and/or address budget and legislative requests for fiscal year 2018 to the extent that 

they can. 

Today’s focus is on the personnel policies the services currently 

have to sustain and create efficiencies, which includes promotion 

policy, bonus and incentive policies, and end-strength changes that 

still need to be examined in light of proposed increases, and the ensuing challenges. 

I am especially interested in your plans for retention of the right 

service members that are central to your mission, in what may develop into difficult recruiting and retention—into a difficult recruiting and retention environment in the coming years. We would like 

to understand the policies and programs that will be used to maintain and increase personnel end strengths. 

Before I introduce our panel, let me offer Congresswoman Speier 

an opportunity to make any opening remarks. 

Ms. Speier. 

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

STATEMENT OF HON. JACKIE SPEIER, A REPRESENTATIVE 

FROM CALIFORNIA, RANKING MEMBER, SUBCOMMITTEE ON 

MILITARY PERSONNEL 

Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Chairman, thank you. And thank you to all of 

our witnesses who are here today. This is a critical time to hear 

from you. The services have spent the past several years implementing end-strength reductions. Before we commit to growing the 
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force again, we need to take a very good look beyond just the numbers, because for each and every new service member that commits 

to military service, we are signing the government up for a lifelong 

commitment to them as well, a commitment that will come with a 

significant cost. 

I am interested in hearing how the services are going to compete 

in an increasingly competitive labor market and retain the skilled 

individuals they invest in, while still operating in a constrained 

budget environment. In the past, recruiting challenges have been 

addressed by lowering standards, a tactic I do not support and presume you do not as well. 

But simply adding manpower will not address the personnel 

challenges of today and tomorrow. We also need to focus on retention, quality of life, and fostering the culture of respect for all service members. These are areas in which I believe current efforts are 

insufficient. Skilled women and men are abandoning the military 

in response to a persistent plague of harassment, assault, and degradation. Further cuts to family programs and housing allowances 

run counter to trends in the private sector, providing even more 

enticement to leave. 

We also need to think creatively about how the services manage 

people. I am interested in hearing how the services are going to 

transform their personnel management policies to better manage 

and retain talent. There have been many proposals over the past 

few years, and many of these initiatives can be accomplished internally without changes in law but will most likely require a cultural 

shift, which has always seemed to be the biggest challenge. 

I understand that this may be General McConville’s last hearing 

as the Army’s personnel chief and that he may be moving up. 

Thank you for all you have done as Army’s G–1. 

And thank you, Mr. Chairman. I look forward to hearing from 

our witnesses. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Thank you, Ranking Member Speier. 

Let me welcome our panel: 

Lieutenant General James McConville, Deputy Chief of Staff, G– 

1, United States Army. Additionally, I would like to also congratulate General McConville on his nomination to be the United States 

Army Vice Chief of Staff. 

Vice Admiral Robert Burke, Chief of Naval Personnel, United 

States Navy. 

Lieutenant General Mark Brilakis, Deputy Chief of Staff for 

Manpower—I am sorry. Deputy Commandant for Manpower and 

Reserve Affairs, United States Marine Corps. 

Lieutenant General Gina Grosso, Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower, Personnel and Services, United States Air Force. 

General McConville, you are now recognized for 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF LTG JAMES C. McCONVILLE, USA, DEPUTY 

CHIEF OF STAFF, G–1, UNITED STATES ARMY 

General MCCONVILLE. Thank you, sir. 

Chairman Coffman, Ranking Member Speier, distinguished 

members of the committee. I would like to thank you for the opportunity to appear before you on behalf of the United States Army. 
3 

I have submitted a statement for the record, but I would like to 

highlight a couple of points. 

The Army’s people—our soldiers, our civilians, our retirees, veterans, and families—are our greatest asset. They are our greatest 

weapons system, and there is a continued need for a ready force, 

one that is fully manned, fully equipped, and trained, as evidenced 

daily by the international events. Predictable and timely funding 

are key to manning the Army and accomplishing our missions. We 

thank you for the increase in end strength of 28,000. That will improve our readiness and ensure that the Army has better manned 

formations. 

I want to thank you for all you have done. And as we move into 

the future—you asked about talent management—we are moving 

from a personnel management system to a modern talent management system that will allow us to more effectively manage all three 

components of the Army. 

Diversity is important to the Army. Through our outreach and 

marketing efforts, we are increasing the diversity of our force in 

underrepresented branches and occupations. We are committed to 

giving all soldiers the opportunity to serve in whatever military occupation they can meet the standards of. Currently, all military occupations are open to women, and women serve in every battalion 

in the Active Army. 

We remain focused on personal resiliency and suicide prevention 

with world-class programs for our soldiers, civilians, and families, 

and are aggressively working to decrease the stigma with seeking 

behavior health care. 

Sexual assault and sexual harassment have no place in our 

ranks and diminish our readiness. Our recently published Workplace and Gender Relations Survey of Active Duty Members shows 

a decrease in prevalence and increase in reporting, but there is 

much work to be done. 

At the end of the day, the Army’s people, the men and women 

who serve our country today, along with their families, and all 

those are vital to the security of our Nation. 

I thank you for your continued support of the All-Volunteer Army 

and look forward to your questions. 

[The prepared statement of General McConville can be found in 

the Appendix on page 34.] 

Mr. COFFMAN. Vice Admiral Burke. 

STATEMENT OF VADM ROBERT P. BURKE, USN, CHIEF OF 

NAVAL PERSONNEL, UNITED STATES NAVY 

Admiral BURKE. Chairman Coffman, Ranking Member Speier, 

and distinguished members of this committee, thank you for the 

opportunity to appear before you to discuss Navy manpower, personnel, training, education, and family support programs. 

I am honored to represent the men and women of the United 

States Navy. For 240 years, the Navy has been a cornerstone of 

American security and prosperity. Now more than ever, the Navy 

is important to national security and so are its people. As Chief of 

Naval Personnel, I am responsible for ensuring our ships, squadrons, submarines, and stations are fully manned with sailors who 

are ready to undertake the many jobs and tasks we ask of them. 
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This responsibility includes finding and recruiting talented individuals as well as executing training pipelines that transform sailors 

into highly skilled maritime warriors. 

While the Navy has healthy recruiting, retention, and manning 

today, it is vital we update policies that position us to deal with 

challenges before we are confronted with a crisis. As with the 

weapons systems we use, we must continue to refresh our personnel system to keep pace with the rapidly changing world, and 

we must do so with a sense of urgency. Our workforce must be 

poised to adapt quickly to new and evolving threats as we continue 

to work to attract and retain the very best sailors in an increasingly competitive talent market. 

We will continue to evaluate our policies, practices, delivery systems, and when appropriate, we will pursue additional avenues, 

with your help, to improve readiness and also to provide sailors 

choice and flexibility. 

Sailor 2025 is an effort we began a few years ago and is a roadmap to help us do just that. Today it consists of about 45 different 

initiatives aimed at modernizing our personnel management and 

training systems to more effectively recruit, train, and manage our 

force while also improving the Navy’s warfighting readiness. At the 

foundation of these initiatives is an effort to streamline and optimize our organizational processes. Today, our success greatly depends upon the extraordinary efforts of sailors and Navy civilians 

working tirelessly to overcome an aging personnel business model 

in a noncoherent and manually intensive family of 55 personnel IT 

[information technology] systems. That is why we are transforming 

the way we operate, leveraging modern commercial IT capabilities 

and practices that will help us improve fleet readiness and customer service to our sailors, reducing operating costs and helping 

us to manage our organizational data and programs. 

Ultimately, this transformation is intended to holistically improve the way we manage sailors’ careers and deliver personnel 

readiness to our Navy. 

I look forward to working with you as we build the Navy of tomorrow together, and I look forward to your questions. Thank you. 

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

Appendix on page 47.] 

Mr. COFFMAN. General Brilakis. 

STATEMENT OF LTGEN MARK A. BRILAKIS, USMC, DEPUTY 

COMMANDANT FOR MANPOWER AND RESERVE AFFAIRS, 

UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS 

General BRILAKIS. Thank you. 

Chairman Coffman, Ranking Member Speier, distinguished 

members of the subcommittee, it is my privilege to appear before 

you to discuss your Marine Corps. 

Marines are the foundation of the Corps. They are the services’ 

most critical resource and always will be. Your Marines are recruited, educated, trained, and retained to win our Nation’s battles. 

Everything we do in the Marine Corps must contribute to their 

readiness and their ability to win in battle. 

Overall, Marine Corps recruiting and retention remains strong. 

Our recruiters continue to find high-quality men and women of 
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character who want to take up the challenge to be United States 

Marines. We will make our recruiting mission this year, and we 

will have a start pool for next year above 50 percent. Over 99 percent of those who we will ship will be tier 1 traditional high school 

graduates or the equivalent. 

We thank you for the increased end-strength authorization in 

last year’s NDAA [National Defense Authorization Act] that takes 

us to 185,000 in the Active Component. This increase serves to enable our retaining critical warfighting capabilities while improving 

information-related capabilities and capacities necessary in an increasingly dynamic operating environment. 

Along with the other services, the Marine Corps is diligently preparing for the new Blended Retirement System [BRS] that goes 

into effect on January 1st. This new system represents the most 

significant change in military compensation in many years. So the 

financial education of each Marine is a priority. To this end, we 

have implemented an integrated communications plan to increase 

awareness. I have personally discussed the BRS at major installations with our leaders and recently spoke to our prospective commanders course about the challenge of preparing over 184,000 Marines in both the Active and the Reserve Component for this important opt-in decision during 2018. We must get this right. Thereafter, we will closely be monitoring the BRS for any unintended 

consequences, including those affecting retention. 

Your Marines are proud of what they do. They are proud of the 

Eagle, Globe, and Anchor, and what it and each Marine represents 

to our Nation. With your continued support, a vibrant Marine 

Corps will be ready to meet our Nation’s call. 

Thank you again for the opportunity to present this testimony, 

and I look forward to your questions. 

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

Appendix on page 60.] 

Mr. COFFMAN. General Grosso. 

STATEMENT OF LT GEN GINA M. GROSSO, USAF, DEPUTY 

CHIEF OF STAFF FOR MANPOWER, PERSONNEL AND SERVICES, UNITED STATES AIR FORCE 

General GROSSO. Chairman Coffman, Ranking Member Speier, 

and distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank you for the 

opportunity to appear before you today to deliver the Air Force personnel posture for fiscal year 2018. 

America’s Air Force is always there, providing global vigilance, 

global reach, and global power to combatant commanders around 

the world. However, being always there comes at a cost to equipment, infrastructure, and, most importantly, our airmen. Sustained 

global commitments and continued budgetary uncertainty have diminished our ability to successfully balance capability, capacity, 

and readiness. Simultaneously, the Air Force experienced increased 

demand in enduring missions and growth in new mission sets such 

as cyber, remotely piloted aircraft, information surveillance and reconnaissance, and special operations. 

The Air Force is currently facing three distinct personnel challenges: first, the need for increased end strength to support current 

mission requirements; second, the national pilot crisis; and, finally, 
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meeting the quality-of-life and quality-of-service needs of our airmen and their families. 

Our first challenge is obtaining the end strength the Air Force 

needs to support current mission requirements. We are grateful for 

the congressional support to increase fiscal year 2017 Active Duty 

end-strength levels to 321,000 airmen. Even with this increase, Air 

Force readiness depends on responsible growth in fiscal year 2018 

to a requested total force end-strength level of 675,000 airmen. 

This growth is necessary to support current operations. 

Our second challenge is the national pilot crisis. As you are 

aware, we discussed the pilot shortage at length in our March 29 

hearing. I would just add to that discussion that we are meeting 

with several airline senior executives tomorrow to seek ways to collaboratively address the national pilot shortage. 

The third challenge to note today is ensuring we meet the quality-of-life and quality-of-service needs of our airmen and their families. Our force readiness depends on a strong, resilient force. We 

are increasing resiliency skills programs by adding installation resilience trainers, evaluating military family needs, and ensuring 

airmen exposed to combat and traumatic events receive needed 

care. Unfortunately, working against our resiliency efforts is any 

form of interpersonal or self-directed violence, to include sexual assault and suicide. Any number of incidents is one too many. 

Additionally, violence is not always physical, as forms of violence 

have bled into social media. Since my testimony to this committee 

on the Air Force’s social media policies, the chief of staff chartered 

a working group to evaluate the policies in place for appropriate 

conduct online and via social media. 

New guidance is currently in coordination. This guidance will be 

punitive and will be completed and issued in the next 60 days. 

As we move beyond our immediate challenges, we are planning 

and preparing for the future. To do this, the Air Force established 

a comprehensive human capital strategy across six lines of effort 

to address talent planning, talent acquisition, talent development 

and utilization, talent evaluation, compensation and retention, and, 

finally, transition. Our talent management strategy focuses on how 

to best leverage the abilities of our total force airmen, maximize efficiencies, and increase human performance to produce warfighters 

and leaders for the Air Force and joint force. 

To further our status, we established a Talent Management Innovation Cell to rapidly identify and deploy initiatives within existing authorities. As this team produces policies and programs to better attract and retain talent, we will work with our service partners and the Office of the Secretary of Defense to present options 

to Congress to modify or add authorities as needed. 

Our talent strategy would not be possible without the support 

and authorities Congress has already given us. For example, we 

are using the Career Intermission Program authority to provide career flexibility to our airmen and their families. Additionally, the 

Air Force is grateful for congressional support in continuation of direct hire authorities to hire talented civilian airmen directly from 

our universities, expand the access of professionals for our depots, 

and increase hiring speed to bolster our cyber mission forces. 
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We also appreciate the authority granted for expanded parental 

leave and the first aviation bonus increase in 18 years. The increased bonus will help alleviate our pilot crisis by retaining more 

pilots after their initial Active Duty service commitments. 

Thank you for allowing me to cover our current personnel challenges today and share with you how we are preparing for the future. I look forward to your questions. 

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

Appendix on page 78.] 

Mr. COFFMAN. Thank you, General Grosso. 

First question to the Army, Lieutenant General McConville: I am 

concerned—and I think the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee for the House Armed Services Committee looked at this 

issue. And that is, in Afghanistan, force management levels, and 

that what the combatant commander was, quite frankly, forced to 

do, was kind of work with those numbers. And in working with 

those numbers—for instance, helicopter units, they displaced the 

enablers of the maintenance personnel with civilian contractors, I 

believe at a higher cost—not only at a higher cost, but really, I 

think, compromising the technical skills of those enablers that 

didn’t have the airframes to work on while they were in Afghanistan. So what they did, so the objective was, they only allowed so 

many uniformed military personnel—to supplant some of those uniformed military personnel with contractors. I think we need a policy of what we are really not going to do in terms of enablers. 

Maybe the policy was simply wrong to begin with. But I wonder if 

you can reflect on that? 

General MCCONVILLE. Well, I can, as far as—I think it is absolutely critical that we train the entire force. So having commanded 

aviation units—actually, people tend to focus on the pilots. But the 

maintainers, the people that fix the helicopters, the people that refuel those helicopters, if they don’t deploy with you, you need to 

make sure that they are getting the training someplace else, because, if not, those aircraft will not fly, and when you return from 

that deployment, the pilots redeploy from that deployment, you will 

not have a unit that is ready to go to combat. So I think it is very, 

very important that, if the troops did not deploy with all their 

enablers, those enablers have the opportunity to get the training. 

And that is what we are doing right now. 

Mr. COFFMAN. And I guess it is at our policy level to say, you 

know, it is simply wrong to send those aircraft frames without the 

enablers simply because we are trying to show the American people 

that our numbers, our troop numbers, are down, when the reality 

is we are just substituting uniformed military personnel for higher 

priced contractors in a war zone. And so I just think that is inappropriate. And I think one thing that this subcommittee will take 

a look at is, where do we draw the line in terms of what is inappropriate for a civilian contractor to do versus a uniformed military? 

I would like to hear from each one of you. So many times I think 

we talk more about the officer’s side of the equation. But on the 

enlisted side, what is the—a critical career field that it is difficult 

to—I think accessions are not a problem, I am assuming—but to 

retain. In terms of retention, what would be a career field in your 
8 

respective branch of service that is difficult, in terms of retention, 

on the enlisted side? 

Why don’t we start with you, General Grosso? 

General GROSSO. Sir, on the enlisted side, we have, actually, unprecedented retention, with the exception of five career fields that 

we are following closely: cyber defense; battlefield airmen, which is 

our PJs [pararescue specialists], our SERE [survival, evasion, resistance and escape specialists], our TACPs [tactical air control 

party specialists]; intelligence; explosive ordinance disposal; and 

then select nuclear enterprise specialists. 

Mr. COFFMAN. This is on the retention side? 

General GROSSO. This is on the retention side, yes, sir. And we 

use the tools that you have given us: selective reenlistment bonuses, career status retention bonuses, things that we can do in 

the assignment process, giving more flexibility and more say in the 

assignment process, watching family issues to understand if there 

are some family challenges there. But we have over 200 enlisted 

specialties. So this is a small subset that we are not—— 

Mr. COFFMAN. What is the most critical out of the five? 

General GROSSO. We don’t have a way to—we don’t rate these 

one to five. We don’t think of it that way. Although, we don’t—we 

are not retaining enough of these specialties to sustain the force, 

and we focus on all of these to fix individually. 

Mr. COFFMAN. General Brilakis. 

General BRILAKIS. Sir, thanks. We have some fields: cyber—— 

Mr. COFFMAN. Okay. 

General BRILAKIS [continuing]. Some intel fields, HUMINT 

[human intelligence], counterintel [counterintelligence]. Those have 

been challenged with retentions. Part of the challenge, some of our 

MOS [military occupational specialty], especially in cyber, are what 

we call lat [lateral] move MOSes. So we take junior Marines from 

various MOSes and give them those requirements, because it is 

very technical, very difficult training. There are incentives that we 

use to attract those individuals. And we are taking a look at how 

we have contracted them in the past and how we will do it in the 

future, whether we finish the training, get your certification, and 

then you serve out your contract length. 

So there are a number of different MOSes—in the combat arms, 

we are doing very well. In the aviation community, we are doing 

very well. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Okay. 

General BRILAKIS. It is really in those low-density, high-demand 

MOSes and some of the more highly technical MOSes where we are 

having some retention challenges. We use the SRBs [selective reenlistment bonuses], and we have in the past used an operating— 

what we call an OpFor Kicker. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Vice Admiral Burke. 

Admiral BURKE. Yes, sir. 

For the Navy, our number one challenge continues to be our nuclear-trained enlisted rating. And then a very close tie there would 

be the linguists and the cryptology specialists, almost identical vocational aptitude requirements, you know, required both through 

recruiting nukes and the linguists. So they are both a recruiting 

challenge and a retention challenge. 
9 

And then, on the retention front, number three and four after 

that would be cyber offense and defense, and then all the advanced 

electronics fields. And we are managing all of those retentionwise 

with the SRBs. We are having to start to ratchet those numbers 

back up. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Thank you. 

Lieutenant General McConville. 

General MCCONVILLE. Cyber is huge for training. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Okay. 

General MCCONVILLE. These kids come in with incredible capabilities. And then we start to get into the languages and cryptology 

type things where they are very marketable to other organizations. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Okay. 

Okay. Ranking Member Speier. 

Ms. SPEIER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you to our witnesses again. 

I am trying to get handle on the 2017 NDAA. 

Lieutenant General McConville, the Army had an addition of 

how many? Is it 16,000? 

General MCCONVILLE. It is 16,000, ma’am, in the Active. It is 

28,000 total. So our Reserve had—National Guard had an increase 

of 8,000 and Reserve had an increase of 4,000. 

Ms. SPEIER. Okay. And the Navy, Vice Admiral? 

Admiral BURKE. We were nearly flat. 

Ms. SPEIER. Flat. 

Marines? 

General BRILAKIS. Ma’am, we had a 3,000-person increase in the 

Active Component, none in the Reserve Component. 

Ms. SPEIER. Air Force? 

General GROSSO. Ma’am, 4,000 in the Active Component and a 

steady state in the rest. 

Ms. SPEIER. Okay. So let’s start with you, General McConville. 

It appears that you were originally going to have to reduce your 

strengths by some 16,000 or 15,000. And then, all the sudden, it 

reversed to an increase of 16,000. How did you accomplish that? 

And what is the cost associated with that? 

General MCCONVILLE. Well, when we started the year—I will 

talk about the Active Force—it was 475,000 starting the year. And 

we were on a path to reduce the Active Component to 460,000. So 

we are basically going to—if nothing happened, if the NDAA 17 

didn’t come out, we would have reduced the Army by 15,000. The 

authorization we got was 476 [thousand]. So it stopped the reduction, the drawdown. But the Army is coming down. So all the systems were set to bring the Army down. So what we are doing is, 

is we were in a drawdown, and now we are reversed from that 

drawdown. What we did was we went ahead and increased our enlistments by 6,000. We retained 9,000 more soldiers in the field. 

And we increased our officer accessions by a thousand to get that 

16,000. 

Ms. SPEIER. Vice Admiral Burke, you didn’t have—you were flatlined. Okay. 

Lieutenant General Brilakis. 

General BRILAKIS. All right. Yes, ma’am. 
10 

We were at 202,000 at the height of our strength. And we were 

coming down some 20,000. We got down to—we were heading down 

to 182,000. We did that over the course of 4 years. Then-Commandant Dunford requested a 1-year extension to stay at 184,000. 

And so where we found ourselves was a little bit below 184,000. 

The Congress gave us the additional 3,000. And so we were going 

to meet that by accessing 2,000 additional Marines. And we have 

been very clear. We are not going to compromise on quality. And 

so we will make the rest of it up in the coming year. Because the 

law came later in the year and the money came even later, we did 

not want to do any retention actions that would compromise quality. 

Ms. SPEIER. Okay. Lieutenant General Grosso. 

General GROSSO. Ma’am, we reached a low in fiscal year 2016 of 

311,000. So we had a big push in fiscal year 2016 where we grew 

to 317,000. And to do that, we had to put some additional resources 

into the recruiting effort, both people and dollars. But we had the 

capacity in our training infrastructure. So I can get you the dollar 

cost of that. 

Ms. SPEIER. Okay. So advertising, how much do you spend on advertising for each of your services? 

General MCCONVILLE. About $230 million. 

Ms. SPEIER. Advertising? 

General MCCONVILLE. For marketing. For total marketing. 

Ms. SPEIER. Wow. Okay. 

Navy? 

Admiral BURKE. Ma’am, we have been on a declining trend: 2017’s budget is $47 million; that is down from $56 million 2 years 

prior. 

General BRILAKIS. The ideal requirement is $100 million. The fact is we were budgeted about $82 million this year. 

Ms. SPEIER. Okay. 

General GROSSO. We are about $110 million for advertising. 

Ms. SPEIER. Okay. So, if we add you all up together, we are looking at close to, what, $450 million, give or take. 

How do we measure the value? I mean, because you advertise at 

NASCAR [National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing], how do 

we know—what are the deliverables from that? 

General MCCONVILLE. Well, what we have is we have metrics 

that we look at. And some of the metrics include how many people 

that were not favorable toward maybe serving in the military. By 

the basis of advertising, we track influences, how many people are 

favorable, how many people come on to our Go Army social media. 

And then we track the investment of those dollars and the return 

on how many leads we get of young men and women that want to 

actually come into the Army. 

Ms. SPEIER. So, in politics today, you know, the cost of advertising is very high, whether it is print or TV. And there is a whole 

movement to social media, which is much cheaper. So I am curious 

to what extent—my time is out—so maybe in the second round we 

can talk about it. It seems like we would be much better served to 

take that money, put some of that into social media, and reduce 

what we are spending on some of these boutique operations that 

we have going on. And it sounds like, basically, from most of you, 
11 

with the exception of Lieutenant General Grosso, that you are not 

having any problem filling these vacancies. It appears some of the 

issues are around retention, particularly in cyber and intelligence. 

But we can address that second round. 

Thank you. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Thank you, Ms. Speier. 

Mr. Bacon, you are now recognized for 5 minutes. 

Mr. BACON. Thank you. I want to thank each of you for your 

leadership. And I think you each have a tough job. And I think 

Congress owes each of the services better. We have raised money. 

We have cut money. We have done sequesters. We have done CRs 

[continuing resolutions]. And that always impacts how many people 

we have in each of the services. 

And after 30 years of experience myself, people are at the end 

of that whip, going up and down. And I think we owe you more stability and more predictability. So we are going to work hard to do 

that. 

I want to ask each of you: What is the number one reason for 

an officer in your service, the number one reason for an enlisted 

in your service, to decide to get out early? I just want to see what 

we can learn from it. I will just start off with General McConville. 

General MCCONVILLE. I think many come in to serve. What we 

are seeing is they are taking the opportunities. They are taking the 

training. They want to serve their country. And they want to live 

the American dream. You come in; you serve your country for a 

tour. That is what we like them to do. They take the GI Bill. They 

go off to college, raise a family. And what we want them to do is 

become soldiers for life, and go out there and hire our vets in their 

occupations and also inspire other young men and women to serve. 

And what we have found is 79 percent of our recruits that come 

into the Army have a family member that has served. So we have 

kind of tasked them to do that. 

Mr. BACON. Thank you. 

Admiral Burke. 

Admiral BURKE. Sir, it is the same thing for the Navy. You know, 

whether they stay in for a career in the Active Component or they 

go in the affiliate Reserves or go on and be a great citizen and advocate for the Navy in society. 

You know, some folks come in to get an education. They come in 

to grow up and learn about themselves, set themselves up for another walk in life. 

Some folks don’t necessarily agree with the long periods of family 

separation and deployment life that the seagoing service has. So 

that is probably number one. 

Mr. BACON. I did one tour on the Carl Vinson, and I can speak, 

that was an experience for this airman. 

Admiral BURKE. Yes, sir. 

General BRILAKIS. Yes, sir. Thirty-nine years ago, I signed on 

with the intention to serve 3 years. 

Mr. BACON. Uh-huh. 

General BRILAKIS. I was going to go be a captain of industry with 

my business degree. And here I am after two times where I actually thought about leaving the service, but I decided—— 

Mr. BACON. Someone did a bait-and-switch on you somehow. 
12 

General BRILAKIS. That is right, sir. 

Seventy-five percent of every annual cohort that we recruit will 

leave the service. 

Mr. BACON. Right. 

General BRILAKIS. With two-thirds of the Marine Corps in the operating forces, it is a young force. And we have no place to put 

everybody in the career force. We have youngsters that join the 

Marine Corps to do just that: join the Corps, prove themselves, join 

the team. Whether they joined to fight in the last decade or whether they are joining to serve, as they are doing now, those individuals joined the Marine Corps to get that experience, to be that Marine. We try to mold them and send them back to be good citizens. 

But we have got a lot of folks who have got a plan in life, and the 

Marine Corps is part of that plan. And staying in the Marine Corps 

is not part of that plan. And I think I can say the same thing for 

our officers. 

Mr. BACON. Thank you. 

General Grosso. 

General GROSSO. I think the number one reason they tell us is 

separation from family. So, when you are at that point where either your enlistment is up or your officer doesn’t have a commitment, they evaluate their situation and their predictability to be 

separated and make a decision. 

Mr. BACON. Just from my own personal experience, I think when 

the family member has said they have had enough, it is hard for 

the Active Duty member or Guard and Reserve to stay in. We are 

over having a good time—enjoying ourselves, or the morale, the 

mission, inspires us. But when the family has said they have had 

enough, it is hard to stay in. 

I would also just point out, my experience has been when we feel 

like we are part of an elite service, with modern equipment, great 

training, people want to be part of the elite. But when we have cut 

training, have 25-year-old equipment, that also undermines our retention. 

So one other question for my time here. What are the rates of 

your nondeployable folks? I think we are growing—I am hearing, 

anecdotally, anyway, that some of the services, that number is 

growing, which means it is falling on fewer and fewer people, 

which means then they have more health problems and becomes a 

cycle. Are you seeing the trends growing for your nondeployables 

for health reasons? And should we fix that somehow? 

General McConville. 

General MCCONVILLE. The Army, we are about 10 percent nondeployables. We have actually come down from the peak of the war 

where we were running about 14 to 15 percent. 

What we are doing is really, at every phase of when we bring soldiers, we put in an occupational and physical assessment tests. So 

you have to get in shape before you start initial military training. 

Then when you come to initial military training, if you are not 

ready to start, we get you in shape there. And when come to the 

unit, we are usually putting physical therapists in the unit because 

what we are finding is musculoskeletal injuries are the biggest 

cause of soldiers being nondeployable, and we have got to work 

them through the whole cycle to make that happen. 
13 

Mr. BACON. Admiral Burke. 

Admiral BURKE. In the Navy, we have about 335,000 Active 

Component folks. We have a little less than 2,000 that are nondeployable because of legitimate medical issues. And then we have 

got about 18,000 that are overdue for their dental exams. And that 

is something that we continuously work on. We are in the midst 

of changing our program for overseas and sea duty screening to 

make it on par with our physical fitness program, put the onus on 

the individual; it has to be done at certain period densities. So we 

are changing that paradigm. 

And then the only other factor is operational holds for sea duty 

for pregnant women. But very, very low numbers. 

Mr. BACON. Thank you. I know I am out of time, Mr. Chairman. 

But hopefully they can—maybe the rest can answer the question. 

I defer to you. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Yeah. Go ahead and finish. 

General BRILAKIS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Sir, you have got a couple of different types of nondeployables: 

those in the brig, those in the hospital, those that are in the Integrated Disability Evaluation System, et cetera. Those are kind of 

the long-term nondeployables. And then you have the short term, 

those that go to the hospital, get a surgery, come back, rehabilitate, 

and come in and out. I can’t give you the exact numbers. They are 

something we track. I have to brief the Commandant on them 

quarterly and explain to him. 

As far as that goes, we have taken efforts, steps, to reduce the 

backlog in the Disability Evaluation System. We are making 

progress as far as that goes. We have got just over 2,000 Marines 

in that particular process. 

That is a complex question, but I would be happy to have that 

discussion with your staff offline. 

General GROSSO. Myself as well. I did not bring that data with 

me, but I will be happy to get that to you. 

Mr. BACON. Thank you. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Thank you. 

Ms. Tsongas, you are now recognized for 5 minutes. 

Ms. TSONGAS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and good afternoon to 

our witnesses. 

I appreciate the chance to talk with each of you today about the 

military services recruitment efforts. And in particular, I have an 

interest in the importance of recruiting more women into the 

Armed Forces. Readiness depends—and meeting all the needs that 

you all have—depends upon the abilities of the services to take advantage of the talent pool across all segments of society. And this 

is particularly true when it comes to leveraging the talents of 

women, as they constitute half of our citizenry and are proportionately underrepresented in all the services. 

So, with this in mind, I would like to ask all of you: The most 

recent report of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the 

Services, DACOWITS, notes that some of the services have instituted, quote, ‘‘credible, meaningful accession goals for women,’’ unquote, in connection with integration of women into previously 

closed combat arms, military occupational specialties in units. So 

I would like to ask each of you, have you set such goals? And if 
14 

you have, how you have adapted your recruitment strategies to 

meet those goals? 

General MCCONVILLE. Well, for the Army, I would just like to 

say we have 170,000 women in the United States Army right now, 

which is a significant portion of the force. We have women serving 

in every infantry, armor, and artillery battalion and every brigade 

combat team in the Army. And we are seeing, as we have opened 

up all the occupations to women, many more women are serving. 

We are seeing places like West Point where—I was the second class 

with women at West Point. When I went, in 1981, we were running 

probably 5 or 6 percent. We are seeing rates of 24 percent in the 

classes coming in. So we are seeing an increase. 

We have not set exact goals. But in the field, recruiting, we are 

actively recruiting women. And we need to because they are high 

quality. And as we grow the Army, we are not going to reduce the 

standards. So we need high-quality women and high-quality everyone to come into the Army. 

Ms. TSONGAS. Admiral Burke. 

Admiral BURKE. Yes, ma’am. Today, the Navy is 18 percent 

women. 

The last 3 years, we have exceeded 25 percent women enlisted 

accessions. This last year was almost 27 percent. 

The Naval Academy graduating class this year will be almost 27 

percent. 

For us, it has become a readiness issue with technical graduates, 

numbers of women with technical degrees growing and the number 

of technical degrees that we rely on to do the jobs that we have in 

the Navy. So it is an increasing readiness issue. 

We have drastically increased the mixed-gender representation 

in our recruiting material. Last year, that included shifts in what 

we do for special warfare, including things that we do out in the 

field when we represent what we call our warrior challenge rating. 

So that is SEAL [Sea, Air, and Land teams], special warfare combat crews, EOD [explosive ordnance disposal] divers. 

And then we send out a lot of female representatives for public 

events and things of that nature. 

And then, the submarine force as well, we are doing quite well 

in that area. 

So, progress. 

And then, in terms of where we are—what roles we are moving 

those women into, which occupational specialties, or ratings as we 

call them in the Navy, we are moving them into, you know, fields 

that had been traditionally underrepresented by women, increasingly moving them into technical fields and increasingly—they are 

becoming increasingly comfortable in those fields that had been 

previously underrepresented by women. 

So we need them in those fields. We need them to do those jobs. 

Ms. TSONGAS. General Brilakis. 

General BRILAKIS. Representative Tsongas, thank you. 

We have no specific quota for women other than more. The Commandant has put us on a trajectory to increase the number of females represented in the Marine Corps. The initial goal is 10 percent. That is maximizing the existing infrastructure we have for 
15 

our recruit training. I owe him an answer at the end of the summer on a plan to go to the next particular level as far as that goes. 

Accompanying that direction was decisions to improve the quality of the young ladies that we bring into the Marine Corps. We 

have seen an increase in their intelligence scores, their physical fitness scores. We have seen a reduction in the attrition at recruit 

training. And all those point to a direction that Recruiting Command has taken the drive toward quality seriously. 

Then I think your question was really kind of focused on quotas 

in the integration of our previously closed units. We don’t have any 

quotas. We don’t have quotas for our male Marines. Every individual that comes in to join the Marine Corps, we ask them what 

they want to do, and we try and fit that to what they are trying 

to aspire to. 

Ms. TSONGAS. Could you add a few minutes for General Grosso 

to answer, Mr. Chairman? 

Mr. COFFMAN. Yes. 

General GROSSO. Ma’am, we do have applicant goals for both the 

Academy and for ROTC [Reserve Officer Training Corps]. Obviously, that doesn’t mean they get accessed. And we have seen the 

number of women going—increasing due to those applicant goals. 

But we do have women in almost every skill in the Air Force with 

the exception of those we just opened, our high-end battlefield airmen. And we do targeted recruiting for women across all of our 

skill sets. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Mr. Kelly, you are now recognized for 5 minutes. 

Mr. KELLY. Thank you, Chairman. And thank each of you witnesses for being here today. 

Going back just real briefly on what I think General Bacon 

asked—or Congressman Bacon asked—on nondeployables. I am one 

of those guys who served 31 years in the Reserves and done multiple deployments. It bothers me when you are permanently nondeployable. Temporary is a whole different ball game. We need to get 

those guys back in the fight, guys and girls back in the fight. But 

these permanently nondeployables, if I play in the NFL [National 

Football League] and I tear my ACL [anterior cruciate ligament] 

and I can’t run anymore and I don’t run a 4.4 anymore, I run a 

4.9, I don’t still get to play football. So, if you can’t go and do the 

things that you are required by your country, then we need to look 

for a way to get those guys into a thing, which leads me to my next 

point, which is the new Blended Retirement System. And, guys, I 

am scared to death of that because in our low-density MOSes in 

the Army—and I speak Army speak more than I do the other—but 

Signal and MI [Military Intelligence], and those very tough 

branches that you have to have high scores to get in, the training 

is better in the military than you can get in the civilian world. And 

so there is a high pull to get those guys out. And the promotions 

aren’t there, necessarily, and the money. And with the Blended Retirement Systems, we are going to lose those critical guys, those 

captains and majors. We are going to lose those E–6s and E–7s at 

the peak of their career. I am wondering, what are we doing now 

to address that 12- to 14-year soldier or airman? What are we 

doing now to address that, to make sure that we don’t get a huge 

retention problem 12 years from now? 
16 

General MCCONVILLE. Well, from the Army standpoint, we are 

moving from an industrial age personnel management system to 

what I would call a talent management system. And, sir, your 

point is well taken. It used to be, if you got someone past 10 years, 

you basically had them for 20. I find even today with the young 

men and women, they are incredibly talented—but having three 

that are in the service right now—they are millennials, and they 

look at things differently than we do. They want their talent managed. They want us to respect what their knowledge, skills, and 

abilities. And we can’t treat them, you know, kind of like round 

pegs and expect them to go through their career. 

We are going to have to manage their talents. We don’t know yet 

what the Blended Retirement System is going to do. But there are 

some opportunities here. There are opportunities, the way the system is done, that we can give critical bonuses at the 8 to 12 year. 

There are things that we have to do in the system that are getting 

the folks in the right job, in the right place, so they want to stay. 

When we look at cyber, the MOS, if we can incentivize them 

right, they will stay because they get to do things in the Army that 

they can’t do in the civilian world. And as you all understand, 

there are some incredible things that they get to do serving their 

country. We have to compensate them so the families will stay. 

Mr. KELLY. Yes, sir. Because I have one more question I want 

to get to. So, if you can be quick, I would like to hear from all of 

you real quick. 

Admiral BURKE. Yes, sir. From the Navy standpoint, similar approach. With our Sailor 2025, it is about providing that flexibility 

in those career choices. But, again, I think the flexibility you gave 

us in the 2017 NDAA to control the timing of that continuation 

pay. And then, as we adjust our selective reenlistment bonuses 

around that, I think we are going to have the latitude we need to 

be able to control the retention behavior we need. 

General BRILAKIS. Sir, it is incumbent on us to give our Marines 

good training so they can make the choice, that opt-in choice, and 

decide whether they want to remain in the legacy system or go to 

the BRS. And then I concur with you: We don’t know what the retention behavior will be with the BRS. 

General GROSSO. I believe it is—we are going to have to be agile 

in that continuation pay and have a modern system that people 

want to stay in. 

Mr. KELLY. And then my final question—and just real briefly. I 

really want you to think about it, and if one of you has a chance 

to answer, but I really want you to think about this. In World War 

II, a lot of guys joined and they were airborne because they got 

that $50 jump pay. I mean, it made a big difference. We still give 

jump pay and jump status and those things, and we have that. We 

really need to look at our legacy soldiers, whether they are in 

cyber, and incentives to make those special. You know, being airborne is special. And being Air SOF [special operations forces] is 

special. We need to do that with some of these low-density MOSes 

so that they are special and there are incentives. And then the 

other thing is those low-density MOSes, sometimes the promotion 

opportunities aren’t there. And that probably applies across the 

Marine Corps and everywhere else. You know, we used to have like 
17 

the spec 7s and 8s. They are not necessarily going to be leadership 

guys because they like doing the stuff that they do. The guy who 

flies an airplane wants to fly an airplane. He doesn’t want to do 

some other things. And a guy who is in a signal unit or communications or cyber doesn’t want to go command a company or a platoon. What he wants to do—so we really have to look at ways to 

incentivize them to stay by the pay. Are y’all looking at those kinds 

of things? 

General MCCONVILLE. Yes, sir. Absolutely. 

Mr. KELLY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I yield back. But 

thank you. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Thank you, Mr. Kelly. 

Ms. Rosen, you are now recognized for 5 minutes. 

Ms. ROSEN. Thank you. 

I want to thank the ranking member and everyone here for their 

testimony today. 

I want to build a little on that, especially in the areas of STEM 

[science, technology, engineering, and mathematics]. I have been 

working on some STEM opportunities acts. And so, as you talk 

about the changing military and you talk about retention and the 

millennials and what you have to do to get people in linguistics and 

cyber—I am a computer programmer myself by trade. You are 

going to have be—you talk about deployables. They are deployed in 

a different way than maybe somebody who is flying or going into 

another space. 

So maybe they are deployed in a computer center, or they are deployed operating drones. So how are you going to address some of 

these changes where people are actually really deployed here at 

home, maybe more of a desk job, maybe more of an intellectual job? 

And what are you doing in our high schools and universities to try 

to get these linguistics, cryptologists, computer programmers, and 

the like? 

Anyone can start. That is fine. 

General BRILAKIS. Ma’am, just to break up the movement, huh? 

Ms. ROSEN. Yeah. That is right. You don’t always let him go first. 

General BRILAKIS. There is a pursuit for STEM both on the civilian side and on the military side, and those individuals who can 

come in and produce for the service. But, first and foremost, we 

produce Marines. And while the cyber force, as it is, is beginning 

to grow, we initially went after this as a lateral move. So Marines 

who came in, prove their capability, leadership skills, then move 

over, and get additional training. We have recognized with the 

growth of that force, that we will have to go into initial accessions 

as well. 

So the challenge is: What is it that makes up that young man 

or woman who wants to be a cyber Marine, and what are the skill 

sets that we are looking for? What is their innate ability? And 

what would indicate to us? So we are looking at testing regimens 

to see whether or not we can help ourselves qualify. 

Those higher skill MOSes on the enlisted side, we do that by 

seeking those that get good line scores within the ASVAB [Armed 

Services Vocational Aptitude Battery], et cetera. 

So we have been very interested in the whole STEM. How do you 

pursue that? There are a number of different activities at the serv-
18 

ices. I went to an Air Force sponsored cyber thing for high school. 

It was fascinating. Those kids were doing pretty amazing stuff. 

And I said we should send people to the next one so we can start 

stealing from the Air Force because they have come up with a really good thing. But those young men and women are important to 

us. And we are working on recognizing that and expanding our 

ability to reach out to them. 

Admiral BURKE. On the recruiting front, though, you do have to 

plant the seeds early. So you have to get in even at the middle 

school level. And you have to go to science fairs, and you have to 

even sponsor those things. We do things similar to what the Air 

Force does. And we have displays and science fair types of activities to do, even hack-a-thons, and things like that and like General 

Brilakis was talking about and just spark the interest. And, you 

know, maybe at some point down the road, they will associate that 

interest with the Navy and come back and talk to us. So you have 

to plant that seed corn and get that conversation going. 

In terms of how you prepare that workforce then to—you know, 

to work at a desk job, that is actually easier. So—— 

Ms. ROSEN. Because your talent in some of these may be people 

who don’t necessarily see themselves as a certain type of military 

man or woman, because they have maybe been in science or doing 

other things where they may not physically see themselves or emotionally see themselves in that way, but they have the talent to do 

these kinds of things, which we need the cyber iron dome, right? 

Admiral BURKE. You just have to get them interested in the 

topic, and then show them the rest of the story, though, what it 

looks like when they get there. 

Ms. ROSEN. Right. 

Admiral BURKE. Which may not be the World War II movie of 

the military. 

Ms. ROSEN. Right. Right. 

General MCCONVILLE. We are actively recruiting STEM students. 

And we have done that in ROTC where, if you want to get an 

ROTC scholarship, there is a certain requirement. It is really a 

shift. For a while there, I think we got away from that. When we 

came in, you took engineering; you went to West Point. It was primarily an engineering school. If you got a master’s, you got it in 

engineering. And we kind of shifted. But we are coming back. And 

we are coming back in a pretty good percentage because we need 

that foundation for a lot of these future type skill sets. So we have 

done things where—you know, Hack the Army, where we are going 

out to some—and our cyber folks are really getting out there. And, 

again, a lot of the young men and women are really excited about 

these opportunities to use those skill sets. And even in the Army, 

you still can serve in the Department of the Army civilian if you 

cannot meet the physical standards—— 

Ms. ROSEN. Right. 

General MCCONVILLE [continuing]. And still serve your country. 

So we are offering multiple ways for people to serve through 

STEM. 

Ms. ROSEN. Thank you. 

General GROSSO. Ma’am, I would just add that the mission sells 

itself. And, really, a lot of it is us getting the word out that we 
19 

have these tremendous opportunities, because I agree with you 

that people don’t understand that there is tremendous opportunity 

for STEM and cyber within the United States military. So I go to 

a lot of mentoring events and a lot of job fairs and talk to women 

and men about the opportunities because they just don’t know they 

exist. But then the mission—this is what they want to do. And, as 

someone pointed out, there are some things you can only do in the 

United States military. 

Ms. ROSEN. Fantastic. Thank you so much for your time. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Mr. Russell, you are now recognized for 5 minutes. 

Mr. RUSSELL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank each of you 

not only for what you do but for being here today. 

OPTEMPO [operational tempo], deployment-to-dwell ratios, could 

y’all speak to that a little bit? 

General MCCONVILLE. Yes, sir. Many have thought the dwell 

time has gone down because the troop levels have reduced in Afghanistan and Iraq. And that is really not the case. You know, we 

are rotating forces right now into Korea. We are rotating forces 

into Kuwait. We are rotating forces into Europe, along with Iraq 

and Afghanistan. So the dwell time has not come down. And, you 

know, the way we are trying to get after that is y’all have helped 

with growing the Army. By having soldiers available to conduct 

these task missions is helping us try to get that dwell time down. 

Mr. RUSSELL. Is it a 1:2 ratio? What are we looking at here? 

General MCCONVILLE. In some cases, it is below that. 

Mr. RUSSELL. Really? 

General MCCONVILLE. Yes, sir. 

Mr. RUSSELL. Thank you. 

Admiral Burke. 

Admiral BURKE. Sir, just to paint a picture, your pre-9/11 Navy 

had about 421 ships. On any given day, we had a hundred ships 

deployed. Today, we have about 274 ships. On any given day, we 

have a hundred ships deployed. 

You know, we have kind of backed down from our days a few 

years ago, having 9-month deployments. That is just deployed overseas on mission. 

And we have gotten back to more predictable schedules for our 

sailors. But we are doing that by riding our ships harder and keeping our sailors at sea longer. So it has come at a cost to our sailors 

and their families. 

Our sailors are doing it because we have gotten to be more predictable. And as long as we can maintain predictability and some 

expectation of what the schedule will be, they are willing to continue to sustain that tempo. 

Mr. RUSSELL. Thank you. 

General Brilakis. 

General BRILAKIS. Mr. Russell, thank you. 

The Marine Corps, like the Navy, is a deployed force, rotationally 

deployed force, with units heading out to Okinawa, out in the 

CENTCOM [U.S. Central Command] AOR [area of responsibility], 

and now the special purpose MAGTFs [Marine air-ground task 

forces] in Africa and also in the CENTCOM AOR. On top of that, 

you have got some of the residuals for combat operations, existing 
20 

RFFs [requests for forces] that have gone on and on. So what we 

found, we came out of combat expecting this dep-to-dwell holiday. 

Never happened. 

We have a number of units. And in the aviation community, 

some units well below 1:2. Our infantry is just below 1:2. And so 

we are deploying, we are coming back, and we are immediately 

going into training cycle and deployment cycle, because you deploy 

to train. 

And so we are finding we are really roughing up not only our 

Marines and their families, but the gear doesn’t have enough time 

to be reset. The training is being rushed before you go to the deployment. And while we are meeting our deployed requirements, 

the ready bench is a little bit ragged. The next to deploy are okay. 

Those at rest, it is a bit of a challenge. 

Sustaining this over time is going to be difficult. But the 185, the 

additional 3,000, really just enabled us to maintain warfighting capability and introduce the new information capabilities the Commandant believes are necessary for the current fight in the battlefield of the future. So we still have no solution right now in meeting all the demands from the COCOMS [combatant commands] and 

also getting our arms around the dep-to-dwell challenge. 

Mr. RUSSELL. General Grosso. 

General GROSSO. We have really never left the Middle East since 

1991. So what we find is, depending on the skill set—in our highdemand/low-density, they do have much shorter, some 1:1, some 

1:2. But I would say that is a small number of skill sets. What we 

find, though, is that, even on a normal rotation, what is happening 

when you come home, to get back up to speed on all of your mission 

sets, you are not home when you are home. And so something that 

we are spending a lot of time looking at is the time when people 

are at home, how do we give them more time? How do we give 

them more white space to spend that time regrouping? And growing end strength will also help us tackle some of that OPSTEMPO. 

Mr. RUSSELL. And I think, you know, one of factors, too, that you 

look at on returning units is about a third of your warriors will 

leave just at the end of their enlistments or in attrition. And then, 

of those that you have, you are integrating a new batch. And then 

you have noncommissioned officers and officers that you got to get 

to the training so that they can improve their skill sets and, in the 

meantime, doing all of the refit, reorganization. And I don’t think 

that is often appreciated enough. You know, so that is why I asked 

the question. 

I, like you, share great concerns over the Blended Retirement 

System. I think it makes us very vulnerable. It will be interesting 

to see in fiscal year 2018 who opts for old versus new. I am not 

sure we have got a solution there. 

And then, the last concern, Mr. Chairman, just a comment, our 

continued cutting of incentives. BAH [basic allowance for housing] 

now, on post, we are making soldiers pay living on post, BAH 

shortfalls. It was Congress that screwed that up. 

So the more incentives we cut, the old adage: Nothing is too good 

for the troops, and nothing is what we will give them. We have got 

to turn that around. 

So thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back. 
21 

Mr. COFFMAN. Thank you, Mr. Russell. 

Dr. Wenstrup, you are now recognized for 5 minutes. 

Dr. WENSTRUP. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you all for 

being here today. I appreciate it. 

So we have had really good conversation today, and the balance 

that you try to have with recruitment, retention, the quality of 

troops that you bring in, the opportunities that you offer someone 

who is joining the military, and the opportunities that they may 

have when they leave the military. Those are all components that 

go into someone making up their mind to serve, whether it is 4 

years or for 20 years. I know when I hit about 12, I decided I was 

going to go for 20, and that made the most sense. 

And then the other thing that was discussed today too is, what 

do our numbers look like compared to the requirements of each 

branch and of the military, the downtime, all these things that you 

have to, you know, be considering and balancing all the time to 

meet the current expectations and needs, and hopefully the future 

expectations and needs of our military? 

And I just would love to hear what you consider to be a couple 

of the greatest challenges you have in blending all of those things 

together as you look to the future, as you look to—well, not only 

today, but if you look 10 years down the road, the world we are 

living in today. And, more so, what can Congress do to help you 

in that challenging mission? 

And we will start on the other end and go the other way. 

General GROSSO. Sir, I would say that what you can do to help 

us the most is stable funding over an extended period of time, because the ups and downs, especially from a military manpower perspective, are impossible. If you just look at the—we have been decreasing since 1991, and took a hard right up. Even on our civilian 

workforce, it is very, very difficult to manage a stable human capital strategy. 

General BRILAKIS. Sir, I will echo General Grosso’s comment 

with respect to funding. Extended CRs, short periods of time to 

spend additional cash, not doing it responsibly, et cetera, is really 

a challenge for all of us. 

What our Marines expect, they expect good training, they expect 

good weapons, and they expect a good mission. 

Admiral BURKE. I would echo the stable funding comment. We 

have the last 4 or 5 years kind of jump changes in end strength 

for a number of different reasons that caused us to do somewhat 

unnatural acts to meet those demands. 

But then the other thing that happens is sometimes our manpower overhead accounts, the things like the individuals accounts 

and the transients accounts are attractive targets to meet topline 

numbers. And even though you may have enough in your accounts 

to pay for the bodies, if you don’t have enough to cover the overhead to have people in training you really can’t keep the total number of bodies in there. 

Over the last 4 years, what that has translated to for the Navy 

is an increasing number of gaps at sea. Today I am at about 7,000 

gaps at sea in my forward-deployed ships, and that has been cascading over the last 4 years. And every year we have looked to program our way out of that and it just becomes an attractive target. 
22 

So you have to properly fund the overhead accounts as well as 

the total end strength. 

And then I think the continued support that you have given us 

in the flexibility to help us, all of us are doing some form of modernization of our personnel system, and we have appreciated the 

flexibility that you have given us as we look at that, because we 

all need to continue to take a look at that. We appreciate that. 

General MCCONVILLE. Since timely and predictable funding has 

already been covered, what I would just like to mention is the 

qualifications of American youth. And right before President Kennedy took office, he wrote a paper lamenting the fact that only 50 

percent of Americans were qualified to basically serve in the military. We wish it was that today. It is 25 percent. 

And as we go in the future, we are going to have to take a hard 

look at the ability to get these extraordinary young men and 

women to serve, and we are going to have to be very innovative to 

bring those qualified folks. And recruiting, even though we make 

it, at least for the Army, is a tough mission, and we have got to 

work that every single day. 

Dr. WENSTRUP. Well, we could probably have another whole 

hearing just on the reasons for 50 percent down to 25 percent, and 

maybe we need to do that at some point. 

But I appreciate it. And I also notice some unanimity there on 

the stable funding. And I think everyone here recognizes that need, 

and I hope that we address that as we move forward. 

Thank you. 

Mr. COFFMAN. I have got sort of four questions related to accessions, and if you could go through them very quickly, because we 

are limited in time. 

One is, what is your attrition rate during the first enlistment 

through administrative or adverse separation? 

Two, have you developed better screening tools in terms of recruiting to not take those people in or a certain profile of individuals that you could, in terms of recruiting, that you have learned 

not to take through some kind of measure? 

Why is it that we are getting on the MEP [Military Entrance 

Processing], in MEP side, why do we have a gap between people 

that are accepted, deemed physically qualified, sent to recruit 

training, and then not deemed physically qualified, and sent back 

home at taxpayers’ expense? You know, it is expensive. And why 

do we have that gap? 

And then I want to know how many personnel that you have totally engaged in recruiting, not just line recruiters, but support 

staff and command staff as well. 

Who is ready to go? 

General MCCONVILLE. I am ready to go. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Yes. Lieutenant General McConville. 

General MCCONVILLE. Twenty-eight percent attrition. 

Mr. COFFMAN. In the first tour of duty? 

General MCCONVILLE. Yes, sir. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Twenty-eight percent? 

General MCCONVILLE. That is down from 35 percent. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Wow. 
23 

General MCCONVILLE. Yes, sir. And then as far as screening, we 

have two things in place—— 

Mr. COFFMAN. I don’t mean in terms of reenlistment. I just mean 

administrative or adverse. 

General MCCONVILLE. I am talking people because of misconduct, 

physical injuries, do not finish their first term. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Wow. I am very surprised. Okay. 

General MCCONVILLE. It was running about 35 percent. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Wow. 

General MCCONVILLE. And so it is coming down, and we are 

working that. And that is why we have put a lot of things in place. 

And you talked about screening. We put an occupational physical 

assessment test in place. We have a TAPAS [Tailored Adaptive 

Personality Assessment System] test; we are trying to get the right 

psychological fit. And we are doing longitudinal studies to allow us 

to bring those numbers down. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Okay. So then why the disparity in the physicals? 

General MCCONVILLE. That is something we need to—I need to 

take that for the record. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Please do. 

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

page 97.] 

General MCCONVILLE. We know that happens, but we haven’t 

been able to—you know. 

Mr. COFFMAN. You don’t know how many total personnel you 

have in recruiting? 

General MCCONVILLE. Oh, 12,000, about 12,000. I will get you for 

the record, but it is about 12,000 with staff and recruiters. 

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

page 97.] 

Mr. COFFMAN. Okay. Vice Admiral Burke, your attrition rate 

first tour of duty? 

Admiral BURKE. Is around 15 percent, about 12 percent in boot 

camp, 3 thereafter. And we are looking at some—we have screening 

tests in place. We are looking at some additional ones for destructive behavior profiling that we are piloting right now. 

The MEPS [Military Entrance Processing Station] versus our 

service screening, we think we have a problem within our own 

Navy medical community that we are looking to close the loop, that 

we are being unnecessarily conservative. And we are continuing to 

work that. 

I will have to come back to you on the exact numbers, but I think 

we are around 5,000 total, about 3,000 recruiters and about 2,000 

additional. 

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

page 97.] 

Mr. COFFMAN. Okay. 

General Brilakis. 

General BRILAKIS. Mr. Chairman, non-EAS [end of active service] 

attrition can be folded a number of different ways, but the short 

answer is less than 10 percent. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Less than the 9 percent? 

General BRILAKIS. Less than 9—less than 10; 10 to 9 percent. 

Mr. COFFMAN. During the whole first term? Okay. 
24 

General BRILAKIS. Well, during the whole first term—— 

Mr. COFFMAN. First enlistment. 

General BRILAKIS [continuing]. Year over year, I can’t—I will 

take that for the record. 

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

page 97.] 

Mr. COFFMAN. Okay. But it is 9 percent in boot camp? 

General BRILAKIS. Our non-EAS attrition annually is less than 

10 percent. 

Mr. COFFMAN. I am just concerned about in the first enlistment. 

General BRILAKIS. First enlistment. 

Mr. COFFMAN. That is all. 

General BRILAKIS. I have got to get you that answer. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Okay. 

General BRILAKIS. Yes, sir. 

Mr. COFFMAN. General Grosso. 

General GROSSO. I don’t have first enlistment, but I do know 6 

percent is our basic training. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Wow. 

General GROSSO. So I will get you that for the first enlistment. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Okay. 

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

page 97.] 

General BRILAKIS. You want to follow up with the rest of those? 

Mr. COFFMAN. Yeah. Well, how about very quickly, MEPs, why 

is there a disparity? 

General BRILAKIS. So the screening tools, a recruiter is the best 

screening tool we have. The process is probably the best—— 

Mr. COFFMAN. But on the health side? 

General BRILAKIS. On the health side in MEPCOM [Military Entrance Processing Command], I would have to look at a particular 

specific. I can’t—I know that we had a case—we had a situation 

at one point where we had problems with the calibration of the 

hearing—the hearing test at some of the MEPs and it wasn’t translating. That, I know, has been taken care of. We also had an issue 

in Colorado with lordosis, which I don’t want to get into explanation of what that condition is. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Sure. 

General BRILAKIS. But we got that fixed through working 

through the process. 

We have 5,300 Marines involved in recruiting. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Fifty-three hundred? 

General BRILAKIS. Yes, sir. 

Mr. COFFMAN. And that is support personnel, staff? 

General BRILAKIS. Joint headquarters, production recruiters, 

nonproduction recruiters. That is it. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Okay. 

General GROSSO. We have 2,300 people in our recruiting infrastructure. We are working on better screening tools. And I will 

have to take for the record the MEPs question. 

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

page 97.] 

Mr. COFFMAN. Okay. 

Ms. Speier. 
25 

Ms. SPEIER. This is all really helpful. It is interesting that the 

Marines have 5,300 in recruiting and yet 182,000 in the Marine 

Corps; Air Force has half as many recruiting and has 317,000. 

Do you want to address that, General? 

General BRILAKIS. Yes, ma’am. This year we will have 38,000 enlisted non-prior-service accessions. But as I mentioned, we are a 

young force. Two-thirds of the force is in the operating forces. 

Every 4 years we turn over 75 percent of each cohort. I had the 

second-largest recruiting mission of all the Armed Forces. 

Ms. SPEIER. Because there is such a high turnover, is that what 

you are saying? 

General BRILAKIS. That is correct, yes, ma’am. 

Ms. SPEIER. And so we need to look at why. 

General BRILAKIS. Because we are an inexpensive and we are a 

young force. The model that was created, because I can only put 

so many first-term Marines into the career force, because there 

isn’t that much of a career force. 

Ms. SPEIER. Got it. Got it. Okay. 

I am going to ask you to provide this to us for the record. So I 

would like for you to each provide us with how you spend your advertising budget, TV, sponsor of events, and the like. 

[The information referred to can be found in the Appendix beginning on page 98.] 

Ms. SPEIER. General Grosso, in particular, I was at a Michigan 

game not so long ago in which they had Air Force planes flying 

overhead and then they had them skydive into the stadium, which 

was exciting to watch, but I couldn’t help but sit there thinking: 

How much is this costing us? So if all of you would provide that, 

that would be helpful. 

In terms of the Navy, Admiral Burke, the anticipation of having 

355 ships would be a huge increase in personnel. What are you 

doing in contemplating that? What tradeoffs will the Navy be prepared to make to meet that financial commitment? 

Admiral BURKE. Well, in terms of the manpower increases, the 

exact number will depend on what the makeup of that new force 

construct exactly would look like. So the answer is it depends. You 

know, that is obviously still being discussed. 

Ms. SPEIER. Well, if we add these ships, have you done an analysis of how many additional sailors and civilians you will need? 

Admiral BURKE. We have done bounding analyses. Again, the 

discussions are anywhere between 12 to 14 carrier strike groups 

and then the composition of those. And then we think that that 

force also needs to be a mix of manned and unmanned vessels as 

well, so that could also reduce the manpower increase. But we are 

very much looking at that. And then the timeframe and the speed 

at which we build those vessels. So the answer is it depends. But 

anywhere from 20,000 to 40,000 additional sailors, depending on 

how we bound it. 

The infrastructure that we have in place in terms of our Recruit 

Training Command is sufficient given shipbuilding timelines to put 

enough sailors through there. We would have to ramp up additional drill, recruit division commanders, and perhaps additional 

training capacity, but probably not additional infrastructure is 

where we are with that right now, ma’am. 
26 

Ms. SPEIER. Okay. We spent some time asking the question 

where your retention areas were, and many of you referenced cyber 

and intelligence in particular. I wonder to what extent those functions should be filled by civilians and the focus be placed there, 

with the expectation that you are putting someone in the military 

in those positions, they are so attractive to companies outside, that 

you are going to have them moving through there very quickly and 

constantly in a retraining mode. That is just an aside. 

It appears that the number one issue here is retention—or attrition, depending how you look at it, I guess, in some respects. If you 

have a high attrition rate, then the costs of retraining are significant. So you want to reduce the attrition rate, is where we want 

to go, correct? 

So I would be interested in knowing what other—and I am running out of time, so maybe for the record as well—what other programs, policies we should contemplate to address the attrition rate 

and find ways to reduce it. 

[The information referred to can be found in the Appendix beginning on page 98.] 

Ms. SPEIER. With that, I yield back, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Just one very quick point. I think we are still 

locked into the promotion structure of, I think, the height of Iraq 

and Afghanistan. And is the promotion system too fast? When the 

ranking member talked about retention and the cost of training, 

the fact that it seems to be very competitive in a lot of career fields 

to stay in, are we forcing good people out that should otherwise 

stay in, by virtue of our promotion system? Would anybody like to 

answer that? 

Admiral BURKE. Sir, I would like to take that one, the question. 

I think we do—we are very much taking a look at—you know, from 

a sustainability standpoint, we have a very broad personnel pyramid, very large at the base, that still very much assumes we can 

bring people in in large volume and inexpensively. 

So a lot of our Sailor 2025 programs are aimed at narrowing the 

base of the pyramid, make it a little taller, so longer careers, and 

perhaps allowing more opportunities to repurpose the career, let 

people change their specialties throughout a career. 

We can relatively easily do that on the enlisted side with the authorities that we have, and we are doing that in Sailor 2025. A little harder to do that on the officer side without some additional 

policy relaxations, and we are working with your teams to explore 

those opportunities. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Anybody else? Okay. Anybody else? Yes. 

General MCCONVILLE. Mr. Chairman, the way our model works 

with the pyramid in law is only 10 percent of enlisted soldiers really can make it to 20 years and 30 percent of officers serve a full 

career. That is kind of how the model works. And this has been especially exacerbated during the drawdown when we went from 

570,000 soldiers on the way to 460,000. So almost 100,000 soldiers 

either attrited or were asked to leave that may have been fully 

qualified from the Army over the last 5 years. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Anybody else? Yes. 
27 

General GROSSO. On the enlisted side, we allow people to stay 

that haven’t been promoted. So I would share that with you, and 

that is the first commander. 

On the officer side, we for longest time to major, we have had 

a 95 percent promotion rate. So I wouldn’t make the argument that 

we are losing talent because of the promotion system. 

General BRILAKIS. Sir, we promote to vacancy. We have a lot of 

platoon leaders, we have a lot of squad leaders, and a lot of Marines. They move their way up, and I have fewer spots for folks as 

we go. So the up-or-out system, the way we do business, makes it 

very competitive, allows us to find the talent. And we have processes in place where individuals who have devoted a good chunk 

of their life to service are allowed to be continued to 20 years, staff 

sergeants and majors. 

Mr. COFFMAN. Okay. 

Ms. Speier, anything else? 

I wish to thank the witnesses for their enlightening testimony 

this afternoon. 

There being no further business, the subcommittee stands adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 4:47 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.] 

A P P E N D I X 

MAY 17, 2017 

PREPARED STATEMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD 

MAY 17, 2017 

(33) 

Opening Remarks - Chairman Coffman 

Military Personnel Subcommittee Briefing 

Military Personnel Posture: FY2018 

May 17,2017 

I want to welcome everyone to the Military Personnel Subcommittee's 

hearing on the state of the military service personnel system's as we enter the 

fiscal year 2018 budget season. Our panel of the Service Personnel Chiefs is 

here to address each of their services' personnel postures including personnel 

policies for recruiting and retention, family programs and to address budget 

and legislative requests for fiscal year 2018 to the extent that they can. 

Today's focus is on the personnel policies the services currently have to 

sustain and create efficiencies in, which includes; promotion policies, bonus 

and incentive policies, and end-strength changes that still need to be 

examined in light of proposed increases and the ensuing challenges. I'm 

especially interested in your plans for retention of the right service members 

that are central to your mission. In what may develop into difficult recruiting 

and retention environment in the coming years, we'd like to understand the 

policies and programs that will be used to maintain and increase personnel 

end-strengths. 

Before I introduce our panel, let me offer Congresswoman Speier an 

opportunity to make any opening remarks. 
34 

RECORD VERSION 

STATEMENT BY 

LTG JAMES C. MCCONVILLE 

DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF, G-1 

UNITED STATES ARMY 

BEFORE THE 

MILITARY PERSONNEL SUBCOMMITTEE 

HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE 

FIRST SESSION, 115TH CONGRESS 

ON ACTIVE GUARD, RESERVE AND CIVILIAN PERSONNEL PROGRAMS 

MAY 17,2017 

NOT FOR PUBLICATION UNTIL RELEASED BY THE 

HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE 
35 

Chairman Coffman, Representative Speier, Distinguished Members of this Committee, I 

thank you for the opportunity to appear before you on behalf of the United States Army. 

The Army is people. Our Soldiers, Civilians, Retirees, Veterans, and Families are our 

greatest asset. We are the most formidable ground combat force on earth. Over the 

past 15 years of war, the Army has continuously provided trained and ready forces for 

combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. At the same time, we have executed a wide 

array of combatant commander missions in Europe, the Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, 

Latin America and the Homeland. Today the Army has more than 187,000 Soldiers 

assigned or allocated to meet combatant commander requirements. The continued 

need for a ready force-- fully manned, trained and equipped is evidenced daily by 

international events. Consistent, strategy-based funding is critical to the Army 

accomplishing its missions. 

Manning the Army is one of the key components of readiness and is vital to the Army's 

ability to fight and win our Nation's wars. Our Total Army currently stands at 

approximately 1.005M with the Active Component (AC) currently at approximately 

465,000, the Army Reserve (USAR) at approximately 199,000, and the Army National 

Guard (ARNG) at approximately 341,000. The FY17 National Defense Authorization 

Act (NOAA) authorized a Total Army end strength increase of 28,000 to 1.018 million 

Soldiers (476,000 AC; 199,000 USAR; 343,000 ARNG). This increase will help us 

improve readiness and ensure the Army has fully manned formations in the coming 

years. 

2 
36 

Today only one in four 17-24 year-olds in the U.S. is eligible to serve in the Army, and 

only one in eight has a propensity to enlist in the military, making Army accessions a 

challenging and resource-intensive activity. The Army achieved its FY16 recruiting 

mission of 62,500 Active Component recruits with more than 95% of them holding high 

school diplomas. The ARNG met their mission of 36,800 and for the first time in five 

years, the USAR met its mission of 25,900. This success is due partly to support from 

Congress for our accession programs across the Total Army. We are aggressively 

working to achieve the 6,000-Soldier growth in the Active Component accessions to 

achieve the FY17 NOAA's directed end strength increase. We are committed to holding 

quality high by using enlistment bonus incentives and expanding prior service 

enlistments to help reach our goal. 

The Army must continue to retain the most talented Soldiers and non-commissioned 

officers with the experience and skills necessary to meet our future needs. The AC, 

USAR and ARNG each achieved their FY16 retention missions. The increase in end 

strength for FY17 has also led us to significantly increase the Army's retention mission 

at mid-year, and we have expanded retention incentives accordingly. We have also 

suspended personnel review boards that were being used to shape the drawdown. 

Each component is diligently working to accomplish their respective retention missions 

while maintaining standards. 

3 
37 

The end strength increase of the Army's Active Component requires a civilian workforce 

to support Soldiers and their Families on installations and training bases. The Army's 

Generating Force is critical to Army readiness and that workforce is 60% Army Civilians. 

Currently, there are also 41,000 Army civilians supporting combatant commands 

worldwide. Since 2011, the Army has been drawing down the civilian workforce from a 

wartime high of 285,000 to approximately 242,000 (as of March 2017) to meet budget 

levels, military end strength reductions and legislative mandates associated with the 

military drawdown. 

The Army is committed to manning a force that reflects the diversity of the nation. 

Through our outreach and marketing efforts, we are focused on increasing diversity of 

the force in underrepresented branches and military occupational specialties (MOS). 

We've made improvements in representing the diversity of America's talent in our officer 

corps. The United States Military Academy (USMA) increased the number of female 

cadets from 16% in the class of 2017 to 22% in the class of 2020. The Reserve Officer 

Training Corps (ROTC) experienced similar growth in female enrollments from 22% in 

the Class of 2017 to a projected 28% women in the Class of 2020. Further, the officer 

corps has had an increase in African American Accessions - 14% in USMA class of 

2020 are African American versus 10% of the class of 2017, and projected 14% of 

ROTC commissions will be African American in 2020 vs. an average of 11% from 2012-

2017. Through continued concerted efforts we are sustaining a high-quality AllVolunteer Force that reflects the diversity of America. 

4 
38 

The Army is committed to giving all Soldiers who can meet the standards of a Military 

Occupational Specialty (MOS) the opportunity to serve in that MOS. In January 2017, 

the Army implemented MOS-based gender neutral physical standards to start initial 

entry training, and to successfully be awarded the MOS. To date, the Army has 

accessed and transferred more than 450 women into the previously closed occupations. 

Last year we opened infantry and armor positions as well. Specifically in the officer 

ranks, two female Infantry captains are assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division. Fortytwo female officers have successfully completed the Infantry or Armor Basic Officer 

Leader's Course and are arriving at assignments in the 1st Cavalry Division and the 

82nd Airborne Division in support of the Army's Leaders First Strategy. Additionally, the 

Army has successfully transferred, trained and assigned female NCOs into both Infantry 

and Armor occupations. This approach sets conditions in operational units before newly 

trained junior enlisted Soldiers arrive this summer. The first integrated enlisted training 

courses for Infantry and Armor began in February/March 2017. Due to several years' 

effort to open other job types that have long been unavailable to female Soldiers, 

women currently serve in every infantry, armor and artillery battalion in every active 

Brigade Combat Team in the Army. Significantly, in March 2017, the first female officer 

was assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment. As the Army continues long-term studies 

in support of gender integration and the Soldier 2020 campaign, lessons learned will 

enhance readiness and increase the diversity across our force using a standards-based 

approach. 

5 
39 

Personal resiliency is fundamental to readiness. We currently have 25 

Resilience/Performance Training Centers, with the 26th opening in Korea before the 

end of FY17. We have certified 36.5K Master Resiliency Trainers who are resident in 

company-level formations to train Soldiers on 16 resiliency skills. Our goal is to have a 

Master Resilience Trainer for every company in the Army to reinforce these skills. We 

continue to field the Commander's Risk Reduction Dashboard (CRRD), a tool to provide 

commanders an automated capability to gain visibility of Individual Soldier and Unit 

levels of resiliency. Fielding of CRRD Increment 1 to the entire active Army will be 

completed by July 2017, and we are conducting testing of Increment 2. 

The Global Assessment Tool (GAT), a self-awareness tool for Soldiers to measure their 

personal resilience by assessing their own physical, psychological, social and spiritual 

readiness remains key to our efforts. In FY16, more than 717K Soldiers completed the 

GAT. The Army also has begun testing "Engage", a program that teaches soldiers to 

have professional discussions with their peers, subordinates and supervisors to 

positively influence personal readiness. "Engage" will teach Soldiers to connect with 

each other, building a culture of trust that can optimize individual Soldier performance, 

well-being, and overall unit readiness. "Engage" has been trained at various 

installations across all three components, with very positive feedback. 

Sexual harassment, sexual assault, and retaliation diminish our readiness, therefore, 

prevention of sexual violence remains a top priority for the Army to ensure the readiness of 

the Force. The Sergeant Major of the Army, supported by our superb non6 
40 

commissioned officer corps, continues to lead our efforts on this this issue through the 

"Not in My Squad" program. This program reinforces engaged, values based leadership 

at the lowest levels in our Army. 

The Army and Department of Defense have focused on closing the gap between reporting 

rates and actual incidents. Sexual Assault reporting increased by approximately 60% 

from FY12 to FY14, and is now approaching a steady state based on FY15 and FY16 

data (1 ,962 Soldier reports and 535 non-Soldier reports). Since FY14, reporting has 

remained relatively unchanged when compared by gender/age/rank. Prevalence for 

female service members who experienced unwanted sexual contact has been in decline 

since 2010. This steady state in reporting and decrease in prevalence is what was 

originally envisioned when the Army and DOD increased emphasis on help-seeking 

behavior and accountability. 

Now that we have world-class response capabilities in place, we're placing more focus 

on preventing these incidents from occurring. Civilian and DOD studies have shown 

that sexual harassment is often a precursor to sexual assault, with 30 percent of victims 

indicating they experienced such incidents prior to their assault. The Army is the only 

Military Service to formally include sexual harassment in its prevention program, and we 

believe more needs to be done on this front. Therefore, we are increasing our 

awareness, refining our training curriculum and placing greater emphasis on instructing 

members of the Army Team on prevention of sexual violence. 

7 
41 

Additionally, we're continuing to train and develop a professional cadre of SHARP frontline warriors. The SHARP Academy, based at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, continues to 

enhance its ability to provide top-notch prevention and response education for Sexual 

Assault Response Coordinators, Victim Advocates, Trainers and SHARP Program 

Managers. The SHARP Academy has graduated more than 900 full-time SHARP 

professionals since 2014 and is in the process of piloting a new SHARP Program 

Manager course. 

Suicide remains a serious concern for our Army, and we remain committed to 

combating suicide with a holistic and comprehensive approach to suicide prevention. 

Key to this approach is focusing on strengthening Soldiers, building cohesive units and 

engaging strong supportive Families. Once alerted to situations that deviate from the 

normal behavior or standard, everyone concerned understands how to assist the person 

in need to access the required behavioral health care. 

To improve personal readiness and resiliency, we are aggressively working to decrease 

the stigma associated with seeking behavioral health care. Behavioral health 

encounters for the Total Army grew from approximately ?OOK in FY03 to approximately 

1.28M in FY16, indicating greater trust in the system. Over the past 13 years, Active 

duty Soldiers using behavioral health services increased from 5.7% to 15.9%. Reserve 

component increased from 2.5% in 6.9% in the same period. Active Duty Army Family 

members using behavioral health services in the direct and purchased care network 

also increased from approximately 300K encounters in FY03 to 1.3M by in FY16 

(approximately 14% of Active Duty Army family members). 

8 
42 

In addition to reducing the stigma associated with seeking help, the Army has provided 

more timely care, especially to those with the most significant behavioral health 

conditions. For example, 98% of all Soldiers hospitalized for a behavioral health 

condition receive a follow-up appointment in a clinic within seven days, which far 

exceeds the national average. Embedding behavioral health personnel within combat 

units is a proven best practice - one that we've recently extended to include the 

Substance Use Disorder clinical care providers, by aligning services under the Army 

Medical Command. 

The Army has reduced Total Force non-deployable personnel from 15% as of June 

2016 to 11.5% March 2017. The current 11.5% non-deployable rate includes a new 

category introduced last summer to proactively manage expired medical and dental 

examinations. Excluding expired examinations, the Total Force rate would be 9% and 

the Active Component at 8%. 

The Army continues to reduce the time required for Soldiers to process through the 

Integrated Disability Evaluation System (IDES). Current processing times for the 

Reserve Components are down to 259 days and the Active Component is down to 216 

days. The IDES population is steady state at approximately 13K. We will continue to 

evaluate how to efficiently and fairly evaluate injured Soldiers and either return them to 

duty or assist them in transitioning to civilian life. 

9 
43 

In addition to taking care of Soldiers and their Families while they are in the Army, we 

are committed to helping them transition into the civilian world. We know that only 9% 

of enlisted Soldiers and 28% of officers stay in the service for 20 years, the point where 

they are eligible for retirement. Therefore, it is clear that we must focus on preparing 

our Soldiers for life after their service. Every year about 120K Soldiers transition from 

the Army and we must ensure they have a smooth transition to civilian life with quality 

employment. 

The Army's Soldier for Life program has connected more than one thousand private and 

public organizations to transitioning Soldiers and spouses, resulting in more than 1.2 

million jobs filled by Army veterans and Family Members. Further, according to the 

Department of Labor, Soldier for Life efforts assisted in reducing the Veteran 

unemployment rates to an eight-year low, closing FY16 with the lowest amount of 

unemployment compensation for ex-service members in 13 years. 

VOW Act compliance across the Army in FY16 was over 85% --the Active Component 

at 86%, ARNG at 85% and USAR at 76%. Army senior leaders have solidified policies 

and procedures for transitioning Soldiers and reiterated to Commanders that they are 

responsible for ensuring their Soldiers go to VOW Act-mandated briefings. Soldiers 

who transition successfully back into our communities become strong stewards in 

advocating for others to serve. 

10 
44 

To build a Total Army of Active, Reserve and National Guard forces, as well as 

Civilians, who are trained and ready to take on the challenges of the future, we must 

leverage and manage all available talent and ensure every individual is able to get on 

the field and play his or her position. The Army is piloting a Talent Assessment 

Program that will identify our talent and match them to Army requirements. For 

example, at the Aviation Captain's Career Course at Ft. Rucker, Alabama, junior 

captains are participating in multiple assessments, which will collectively provide them 

with individually-tailored feedback on where their talents align with the requirements of 

the Army's various career specialties. The pilot program finishes this summer, and we 

plan to expand the assessment program to include additional career courses over the 

next two years. 

Our goal, is comprehensive visibility of all our People's knowledge, skills, abilities and 

behaviors to best fit the right person in the right job at the right time. To accomplish 

this, we must move from a personnel management system to a talent management 

system. We are actively pursuing the Integrated Personnel and Pay System Army 

(IPPS-A). IPPS-A is a Human Resources Information System (HRIS) that for the first 

time, will allow the Army to manage the AC, USAR, and ARNG on one HR IT system. 

This will allow us to manage talents and match them to Army requirements. Finally, it 

will provide us an audit capability to ensure personnel and pay are compliant with the 

law. The initial implementation of IPPS-A will start with the Pennsylvania Army National 

Guard (PAARNG) in January 2018, with training of more than 15K of their Soldiers due 

to begin in September 2017. 

11 
45 

At the end of the day, the Army is people. The men and women who serve our Nation, 

both in uniform and out of uniform, along with their families, are our most important 

asset. As a Nation, we must ensure they have the required resources so they are ready 

when called upon to fight and win our Nation's wars. I thank all of you for your 

continued support of our All-Volunteer Army. 

12 
46 

Lieutenant General James C. McConville 

U.S. Army Deputy Chief of Staff, G-1 

Lieutenant General James C. McConville became the U.S. Anny's 47th Deputy Chief of 

Staff, G-1 on August 4, 2014. He is responsible for developing, managing, and executing 

manpower and personnel plans, programs, and policies for the total Army. Prior to this 

assignment, he served as the Commanding General of the 1 01 st Airborne Division 

(AASL T) and Fort Campbell, KY. 

Lieutenant General McConville hails from Quincy, MA and was commissioned as an 

Infantry officer in the U.S. Army upon graduation from the United States Military 

Academy in 1981. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from the United States Military 

Academy, a Master of Science Degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Georgia 

Institute of Technology, and was a 2002 National Security Fellow at Harvard University. 

LTG McConville's command assignments include command of an Aero-Rifle Platoon in D 

Troop, 2-10 CA V from 1984 to !985 and C Troop, 2-9 CA V fi·om 1986 to 1987 in the 7th 

Infantry Division (Light) at Fort Ord, CA; command of2-17 CAY from 1998 to 2000 in 

the 101st Airborne Division (AASLT) at Fort Campbell, KY; command of the 4th Brigade, 

1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, TX from 2002-2005 with service in Operation IRAQI 

FREEDOM; and command of the JOist Airborne Division (AASLT) and Fort Campbell, 

KY from 2011-2014 with service in Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. 

LTG McConville's key staff assignments include S-3 for Flight Concepts Division; S-3 for 

5th Squadron, 9th Cavalry; S-3 tor the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade; J5 Strategic Planner 

for the United States Special Operations Command; G-3 for the I 0 1st Airborne Division 

(AASL T); Executive Officer to the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army; Deputy Commanding 

General (Support) for the I Olst Airborne Division (AASL T) with service in Operation 

ENDURING FREEDOM; and Deputy Chief and Chief of the Office of Legislative 

Liaison. 

LTG McConville is a Master Anny Aviator qualified in the OH-58 Kiowa Warrior, the 

AH-64D Longbow Apache, the AH-6, AH-1 Cobra and other aircraft. His awards and 

decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal (with Oak Leaf Cluster), the Legion 

of Merit (with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters), the Bronze Star (with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters), the 

Defense Meritorious Service Medal (with Oak Leaf Cluster), the Meritorious Service 

Medal (with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters), Air Medal (Numeral2), the Joint Service 

Commendation Medal, the Army Commendation Medal (with Oak Leaf Cluster), the 

Army Achievement Medal (with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters), the Combat Action Badge, the 

Expert Infantryman's Badge, Master Army Aviator Badge, Air Assault Badge, Parachutist 

Badge, and others. 
47 

NOT FOR PUBLICATION 

UNTIL RELEASED BY THE 

HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE 

STATEMENT OF 

VICE ADMIRAL ROBERT P. BURKE, U.S. NAVY 

CHIEF OF NAVAL PERSONNEL 

AND 

DEPUTY CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS 

(MANPOWER, PERSONNEL, TRAINING & EDUCATION) 

BEFORE THE 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON PERSONNEL 

OF THE 

HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE 

NOT FOR PUBLICATION 

UNTIL RELEASED BY TilE 

ON 

PERSONNEL POSTURE 

MAY 17,2017 

HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE 
48 

I. INTRODUCTION 

Chairman Coffman, Ranking Member Speier, and distinguished members of the 

Committee, I am honored to appear before you to discuss Navy manpower, personnel, training, 

education, and family support programs. 

II. A READY AND CAPABLE GLOBAL NAVY 

For more than 240 years, the U.S. Navy has been a cornerstone of American security and 

prosperity. Just look at the news from the Sea of Japan and the South China Sea to the Arabian 

Gulf and beyond, the Navy is there. In our increasingly globalized world, America's success is 

ever more dependent on the U.S. Navy. 

However, the security environment in which we operate has fundamentally changed within 

the past several years. America's competition in the security environment adapted their 

approach to our strengths and weaknesses, and they have done so at an exponential pace. Our 

competition is ready to exploit our weaknesses, and America's success in this competition 

depends on our actions today. We cannot be bystanders in this rapidly changing environment. 

We must act with a sense of urgency in shoring our weaknesses if we are to retain our place in 

the world. We must have outcomes that achieve advantage faster than our competition, and then 

stay faster. If we do not change the way we approach everything from procurement to training, 

from personnel policies to engagement, we will lose the influence and maritime superiority we 

have enjoyed for decades 

As Chief of Naval Personnel, l am responsible for ensuring ships, squadrons, submarines, 

and stations are tully manned with Sailors ready to undertake the many jobs and tasks we require 

of them. This responsibility includes finding and recruiting talented individuals as well as 

executing training pipelines that transform Sailors into highly skilled maritime warriors. Here 

too, in this arena, the Navy faces competition in recruiting America's top talent, training them 

with cutting edge technology and techniques, and retaining their expertise on our team of 

talented people so the U.S. can keep our competitive advantage in the security environment. 

III. TODA Y'S NAVY- FORCE READINESS AND MANNING 

Navy continues efforts to maintain required manning and readiness levels by attracting 

highly qualified men and women to serve in the most effective and technologically-advanced 

naval force in history. We will develop, train and educate a ready force to deliver the right 

person with the right skills in the right job at the right time - a metric we call "fit." We arc also 

taking deliberate steps to forecast future operating environments and ensure we are prepared to 

meet emerging challenges. These plans support our goals of retaining our most talented Sailors 

and maintaining readiness to meet fleet requirements. 

Increased accessions in FY20 12 and FY20 13 continue to contribute to high levels of fleet 

manning and warfighting readiness. In early FY2017, 98 percent of enlisted sea duty billets are 

filled. Of these billets, over 90 percent are filled by Sailors with the proper seniority and 

2 
49 

appropriate skill level. As Sailors who entered the Navy in FY2012 and FY2013 reach the end 

of their enlistments, we expect to see a temporary downward turn in sea duty manning levels, as 

these Sailors transition to shore duty or elect to separate. The FY20 16 implementation of the 

Billet-Based Distribution capability improved our ability to more accurately meet enlisted 

manning requirements by providing a more detailed enlisted demand signal. The Optimized 

Fleet Response Plan (0-FRP) framework will continue to drive increased at-sea requirements, 

and we will be focused on maintaining high levels of fleet manning to ensure deploying units arc 

fully manned and capable of meeting mission requirements, but not at the expense of manning 

levels elsewhere. 

We continue to monitor retention behavior closely across the Navy and remain focused on 

retaining Sailors in the right mix of ratings and pay grades to position us to meet future mission 

requirements. The Navy met enlisted retention goals in FY2016, and anticipates meeting 

aggregate enlisted retention goals in FY2017. However, we continue to experience retention 

challenges and inventory shortfalls in some critical communities, such as Information Warfare, 

Nuclear Field, Special Warfare, and Advanced Electronics. Targeting junior enlisted personnel 

possessing these unique skills with increased incentives will be a critical element of achieving 

required retention and sustaining a healthy force into the fi.1ture. Aller experiencing strong 

retention from FY20 14 to FY20 16, cmTent economic indicators suggest a greater pull from the 

civilian workforce for our top talent over the next couple of years. Getting ahead of this 

impending change requires focused targeting of bonus programs among high-demand critical 

skill sets that an improving economy may adversely affect. 

Officer continuation remains at historically high levels due, in large part, to targeted 

incentive pays and bonuses, improved mentoring, recent efforts to add flexible career options, 

and increased emphasis on life-work integration initiatives. However, specific active duty 

control-grade officer inventory shortfalls remain in the Unrestricted Line, Restricted Line and 

Staff Corps communities. Challenges exist in Aviation, Special Warfare, nuclear-trained Surface 

Warfare Officer and Submarine Department Head retention. In the case of fighter pilots, we 

have seen a particular impact on retention, due primarily to quality of service factors, but also 

due to increased airline hiring. We are actively attacking these shortfalls through targeted 

incentives and other non-monetary retention tools. 

Navy met aggregate enlisted recruiting goals throughout FY2016, although some recruiting 

areas missed individual goals at a greater rate than previously, perhaps an indicator of increased 

competition within a limited talent market. By any measure, Sailors in today' s Navy arc the best 

we have ever seen. Our success is largely due to inclusive diversity recruiting practices, inservice education and credentialing opportunities, and Science, Technology, Engineering, and 

Mathematics (STEM) outreach. Strategic partnerships with STEM-related affinity groups, and 

engagements with high school and college students, have heightened awareness of Navy service 

as a highly desirable career option, inspired the next generation oftechnically capable Sailors, 

developed centers of influence that contribute to recruiting etlorts, and turther diversified the 

Navy. We remain vigilant as the unemployment rate generally remains below five percent over 

the past year, mindful of our limited marketing and advertising resources, and with an eye 

toward ensuring our ability to continue meeting recruiting goals in an improving economy. 
50 

In FY20 16, we achieved all active component general and medical officer-recruiting goals, 

except for Direct Accession Chaplains. We surpassed historical attainment tor most reserve 

component general and medical officer programs. However, high active duty retention in some 

communities presents challenges for meeting reserve officer recruiting goals, since we rely on 

the prior active service pool as the predominant source for many reserve officer affiliations. 

We continue to see significant interest in opportunities tor commissions through the United 

States Naval Academy and Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps, with the number of highly 

qualified applicants vastly exceeding the number of available appointments. All officer 

accession sources continue to attract the finest applicants and graduate well-rounded, technically 

competent leaders for commissioned naval service. 

We demand much of our Sailors, and we strive to provide appropriate compensation. 

While well-deserved pay raises are appreciated and necessary to keep pace with today's cost of 

living, our Sailors and their families have also benefited from previously low out-ot:pocket 

housing and healthcare expenses. Additionally, our Sailors and their families benefit greatly 

from robust civilian equivalent credentialing opportunities, such as apprenticeships, and 

educational benefits under Tuition Assistance, the post-9/11 Gl Bill, and post-9/11 Gl Bill 

Transferability. Combined with continued judicious application of targeted special and incentive 

pays, we anticipate meeting recruiting and retention requirements in the short term. These 

financial incentives provide a total military compensation package, which competes favorably 

with the private sector, and has empowered the Navy to successfully recruit and retain a high 

quality, All-Volunteer Force, despite 16 years at war. Thus, we will monitor out-of-pocket 

housing, hcalthcare, and education expenses to ensure a proper compensation package. 

IV. THE CHALLENGES AHEAD 

The Designfi:>r Maintaining Maritime Superiority challenges us to think about how we will 

adjust to a rapidly changing world. That means our workforce must be poised to adapt quickly to 

new and evolving threats, while continuing to attract and retain the very best Sailors in a 

competitive talent market. While the Navy is in a good position today with respect to recruiting, 

retention and fit/fill, we are at a strategic crossroads where we need to think about how we will 

recruit and retain the force of tomorrow. 

Today, there are two fundamental challenges facing the Navy's personnel domain. First is 

increased competition for talent. We have seen a decline in the number young people with the 

requisite academic and physical aptitude choosing to serve. Additionally, we are unsure how an 

improved economy will affect recruiting and retention. Many Sailors leaving the Navy feel 

stymied by industrial-age personnel systems and processes, which do not provide the choices, 

flexibility and transparency they want and need. Many personnel processes and infrastructure 

are complex, outdated, and inefficient. While we have been able to meet mission requirements 

with these systems and processes, it comes at a high cost of resources and level of effort. 

Second, in today's constrained fiscal and operational environment, continuing to do 

business the way we have always done it is not sustainable. We are finding more efficient and 

cost-effective ways to train our new Sailors, incentivize, retain, and harness the talented people, 

4 
51 

in which we heavily invest. Each year, we recruit, train, and send to the t1eet nearly 35,000 new 

enlisted Sailors. This process imposes substantial and unsustainable replacement costs 

financially, but also in lost corporate knowledge, warfighting expertise, experience and 

leadership. 

Just as the scope and complexity of the warfighting challenges we face on the battlefield 

demand a different approach, so too does our approach to recruiting, building and retaining the 

kind of talented force we need to compete and win in this war fighting landscape. In the FY20 17 

National Defense Authorization Act, Congress began the important process of enacting 

comprehensive personnel reforms, a number of which are important to our modemization efforts. 

Navy appreciates those personnel reform actions, which provide greater t1exibility for personnel 

management, and increased opportunities and options for our Sailors in their career management. 

Our modem, talented force demands a t1exible, dynamic and modem personnel system. 

While the Navy has healthy recruiting, retention and manning today, it is vital we update 

our policies to be able to deal with challenges before we are confronted with a crisis. As with the 

weapons systems we use, we must continue to refresh our personnel system to keep pace with a 

rapidly changing world. Our workforce must be poised to adapt quickly to new and evolving 

threats, as we continue to attract and retain the very best Sailors in an increasingly competitive 

talent market. Thus, we will continue to evaluate our systems, policies, and practices, and when 

appropriate, pursue further modemizations to ensure t1exibility and opportunities for choice, 

which desired and valued by the talented cadre of people we seek to recruit and retain. 

V. THE CASE FOR TRANSFORMATION 

The Navy's Manpower Personnel Training and Education (MPTE) enterprise successfully 

meets today's Fleet personnel readiness requirements, but will need to materially evolve to meet 

the future needs of the Fleet and our Sailors. Today, success greatly depends upon the 

extraordinary efforts of Sailors working tirelessly to overcome an aging business model, its noncoherent and manually intensive IT systems, and the inherent friction in the system. 

Further, the MPTE enterprise faces many challenges in competitively attracting new talent, 

and providing accurate, efficient, and sailor friendly processes to develop, manage, distribute, 

and retain Sailors - the most vital component of every naval weapon system. Left unresolved, 

these challenges constitute a significant threat to the Navy's ability to execute future missions 

vital to national security because, as the naval hero John Paul Jones said, "[people] mean more 

than guns in the rating of a ship." 

Our manpower, personnel, training, and education systems cannot keep pace with a rapidly 

changing world without an end-to-end holistic modernization of the Navy's personnel business 

and supporting IT infrastructure. The administrative organization and IT infrastructure as it 

exists today costs increasingly more for limited value. We are undertaking a significant effort to 

improve the efficiency of the Navy's personnel business and quality of service to our Sailors, 

Fleet Commanders and Senior Leadership through the transformation of the technological 

infrastructure and organization, and put the ways in which the Navy manages our talent on par 

with today' s best corporations. 
52 

Within the next few years, we will transform the way our organization operates using 

modem commercial IT capabilities and practices to streamline and optimize processes. This 

transformation is intended to holistically improve the way we manage Sailors' careers and 

transfonn our labor intensive, antiquated processes into standardized, automated ones. 

Transforming the way we operate will help us provide an authoritative data environment to 

improve budget decisions, better manage our organization and programs with a focus on 

increasing warfighting capability while reducing operating costs and lowering total ownership 

cost. Through this transformation, we will be able to improve Fleet readiness, customer service 

to our Sailors, reduce operating costs, eJTectively recruit, train, and retain the force of tomorrow 

as well as strengthen and prepare the Navy for the future. 

Our goals with this transformation are to: 

• Improve Fleet Readiness - predictive analytics will enable better Sailor fit, talent 

matching, improved retention, and agile responses to meet dynamic Fleet needs 

• Dramatically improve the way we support Sailors and their families 

• Create call centers and mobile/online self-service portals for Sailors to access their 

personnel information, and provide 24/7 customer service where the majority of 

personnel transactions can be done online or via mobile devices like many banks and 

companies today. 

• Reduce cost without loss of output via a new operating model and modem IT system 

• Transform labor intensive, antiquated processes into standardized, automated ones that 

require less management oversight 

• Provide accurate, auditable and timely personnel and pay actions 

• Have a seamless data environment accessible throughout the enterprise 

• Enable predictive analytics supported by Big Data 

Incremental change will not occur fast enough- we simply cannot afford to wait that long. 

This transformation will clearly enable an innovative, agile, and responsive team greatly 

advancing our support to the Fleet, our Sailors, and their families. 

VI. SAILOR 2025 

To attract and retain the very best Sailors in an increasingly competitive talent market will 

require continued flexibility and opportunity in our policies, and practices. Sailor 2025 is a 

dynamic set of approximately 45 initiatives designed to help us do just that. Built on a 

framework of three pillars- a modem personnel system; ready, relevant learning; and career 

readiness - Sailor 2025 is a roadmap designed to change our approach to personnel programs by 

providing Sailors with choice and flexibility. These initiatives target modernizing personnel 

management and training systems to recruit, recognize, and train talented people more 

effectively, and manage the force of tomorrow while improving the Navy's warfighting 

readiness. Our modern IT infrastructure will help us improve the long term health of the way we 

recruit, train and retain talent, more accurately and eniciently assign talent across the force, 

better design and account for compensation packages, and generate a system that allows for 

greater 11exibility and permeability. 

6 
53 

Modern Personnel System. The first pillar of Sailor 2025 is a wholesale modernization of 

our entire personnel system. We are working to create flexible policies and additional career 

choices, as well as empower commanding officers with tools to retain the best and brightest 

Sailors. As part ofthis pillar, we have already implemented several initiatives including the 

Meritorious Advancement Program, increased credentialing and graduate education 

opportunities and tours with industry. In the coming years, we are working to implement a 

"Detailing Marketplace" fleet-wide, which will allow Sailors to negotiate job assignments 

directly with gaining commands. We are also in the early stages of several other initiatives, 

including overhaul of the performance evaluation system, comprehensive review of how we 

tailor and administer advancement examinations coincident with the rating modernization effort, 

and examining how we might enable ease-of-movement between the Active and Reserve 

Components. 

So far, we have: 

• Created the Fleet Scholar Education Program 

• Expanded funding industry-recognized credentials to at least one for every rating 

• Begun the Tours with Industry Program 

• Launched the Meritorious Advancement Program for Enlisted Sailors 

• Made statutory promotion board convening language independent of zone and timing 

• Removed zone stamps from statutory promotion board view 

• Delegated enlisted non-punitive separations authority following Court Martial 

There are several initiatives in progress, including: 

• Officer Detailing Marketplace pilot 

• Active I Reserve Component permeability 

• Improving accession talent matching through the Job Interest in the Navy 

• Overhauling the performance evaluation system 

• Targeted re-entry into the Active Component 

We are continuing to evaluate closely the potential bene tits associated with initiatives such as: 

• Creating targeted and flexible compensation policies 

• Merit-based reordering of lineal numbers for the top selectees at statutory promotion 

boards 

• Allowing officer promotion deferment in selected cases 

• Expanding officer frocking opportunities 

• Enhancing the Navy's ability to selectively direct the retirement of senior officers 

prior to statutory limits 

Ready, Relevant Learning. The second pillar of Sailor 2025 is focused on providing the 

right training at the right time in the right manner. We call this effort "Ready, Relevant 

Learning." Today, after Sailors graduate from boot camp, they attend formal schooling where 

they typically receive most of their career rating-specific training. Right out of Recruit Training, 

Sailors are in rate training that can last up to two years. They have little context and experience, 

and by the time they reach their assignments, Sailors' skills may have atrophied or the 

technology on which they trained might be outdated. Furthermore, as Sailors progress through 
54 

their career path, their knowledge is not always rerreshed or renewed via formal schools so they 

are not up-to-date about changing platforms or technologies. 

Therefore, we are developing a series of career-long learning continuum in which training 

will be delivered by modern methods that enable faster learning and better knowledge-retention 

tailored to "fit" at multiple points throughout a career, similarly to many civilian industry 

models. We believe this training approach will enable greater immersion across a career using 

the Science of Learning to identify modern training solutions delivered at the point of need, 

deliver better trained Sailors to the Fleet sooner, and reduce long-term costs by reducing reliance 

on "brick and mortar" schoolhouses. The training model is being transformed so content is 

refreshed for changing technologies, better preparing Sailors to operate and maintain their 

equipment at its technological limits, and meet rapidly evolving warfighting requirements. 

Creating an integrated training environment is a long-term investment in the future readiness of 

our Fleet, with the collaboration of many stakeholders and in multiple phases. 

Initially, we have begun: 

• Block Learning, a modular approach to the delivery of current training content that 

links delivery of the training to specific points of need in a Sailor's career to minimize 

atrophy of knowledge and skills. The first group of ratings will transition into Block 

Learning delivery during FY2017 and continue for several years. 

• Modernized Delivery, re-engineering training content to leverage new technology. 

Although this will be realized through multiple training advances, we have begun to 

see value of some modern delivery methods through programs such as: 

o Mobile Multi-purpose Reconfigurable Training System (MRTS) for the Virginia 

Class Submarine and Littoral Combat Ship, Emergency Diesel Generator and 

Torpedo Room Trainer, and Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System 

o Littoral Combat Ship Conning Ofticer Virtual Environment 

o eSailor tablet initiative at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes 

While our end state is Integrated Training Development that fully aligns policies and processes 

for training content development with delivery methodologies, we will continue: 

• Adopting and introducing improved and proven training techniques to the Fleet 

• Replacing one-and-done classroom training events with career continuums supported 

by a mix of in-classroom instruction and modern training methods and technology 

tailored to the unique requirements of each career path 

• Increasing access to training for Sailors outside the classroom with mobile training 

delivery platfonns, workplace-embedded job aids, and enduring reach-back/refi·csher 

capabilities 

• Leveraging cloud-hosted training content to increase the speed of updates to training 

to match the pace of technological change in the Fleet 

Career Readiness. We continue to help Sailors improve their career readiness through 

enhanced leader development, building a team that looks like the nation we serve and 

removing obstacles that negatively influence a Sailor's decision to stay Navy when they are 

looking to start or raise a family pillar three. 

To accomplish this, we have: 

8 
55 

• Extended maternity leave to 12 weeks, with your help 

• Changed our dual Navy co-location policy 

• Expanded the Career Intermission Program, again with Congressional assistance 

• Strengthened our resilience, health and fitness programs across the force 

• Improved nutrition awareness 

• Expanded Fitness Center hours, and piloted 24/7 Fitness Centers 

• Expanded Child Development Center hours and capacity 

• Created a Leader Development Framework that recognizes we can no longer take 

character for granted 

• Established a Navy Civilian Workf(Jrce Framework designed to provide our Navy 

civilian teammates the same career management opportunities as our uniformed 

Sailors 

We recognize that leveraging our diversity is crucial to reaching our potential. Leaders 

generate success and achieve unparalleled performance when they tap into the energy and 

capability of an actively inclusive team. Toward that end, the ONE NAVY TEAM concept is 

incorporated into leader development efforts. 

VII. TODA Y'S NAVY- SAILOR TOUGHNESS 

We continue to focus efforts on improving Sailor "toughness" (or resilience) while 

promoting a culture of respect and preventing destructive behaviors. Our 21st Century Sailor 

initiatives make clear the value we place on the well-being, safety, and health of Sailors. We 

will create and maintain a positive command climate in which Sailors treat each other as 

teammates and have access to the services they need from the Navy. Most importantly, we will 

continue to care for Sailors and their families- the foundation on which our Navy is built. 

Combating suicide is an all hands evolution, all the time. Suicide prevention efforts 

empower Sailors to be psychologically healthy, adaptive, and mission ready by providing 

education, training, resources, tools, and policies to reduce suicide risk. A comprehensive fourprong approach envelopes training, intervention, response and reporting, to ensure Sailors have a 

proactive support network and the proper skills needed to thrive, not just survive. Navy 

Operational Stress Control is the foundation of our suicide prevention initiatives, supporting the 

Fleet with resources to navigate the stressors and challenges commonly associated with Navy 

life, helping Sailors and their families build resilience to maintain personal readiness. We 

employ six Operational Stress Control mobile training teams, which deliver resilience lessons to 

all operational units before deployment. We embed resilience counselors to deploy with our 

largest concentration of Sailors aboard 'large deck' ships. These counselors are civilian, 

credentialed, clinical professionals who go to sea alongside extant teams of chaplains, clinical 

psychologists and other medical professionals who proactively assist Sailors each day. We have 

a team of credentialed, clinical, civilian counselors who make up the Psychological Health 

Outreach Program (PHOP) that ensures Navy Reserve Sailors have full access to appropriate 

psychological health care services, to increase resilience and to facilitate recovery, which is 

essential to maintaining a ready military force. Similarly, for our active component, we are 

accelerating the deployment of mental health counselors to meet their care needs, to reduce the 

stigma of seeking help, and facilitating reintegration. We are creating a Navy culture of 

9 
56 

interpersonal trust that promotes productive stress navigation actions, encourages early peer 

intervention, advocates help-seeking as a sign of strength, and supports effective reintegration of 

those treated for stress-related issues. 

We recently launched the Sailor Assistance and Intercept for Life (SAIL) program, a 

research-based non-clinical intervention strategy that provides rapid assistance, on-going risk 

assessment and support for Sailors who have exhibited suicide-related behaviors. SAIL case 

managers from Fleet and Family Support Centers will initiate and provide continuous caring 

contacts with Sailors as well as maintain collaborative relationships with healthcarc providers, 

and command leadership, throughout the critical 90 days following a suicide related behavior. 

SAIL participation is voluntary for the Sailor, will not replace psychological health services, and 

is not a form of treatment, but will enhance our suicide prevention efforts, and assist in 

reintegrating Sailors. 

Navy has felt the sting of disappointment from multiple reports of unprofessional, 

inappropriate, and sometimes criminal behavior by some of our Sailors such as cyber bullying, 

harassment, and sexual harassment and assault. We remain committed to eliminating this 

behavior and similar destructive behaviors from our ranks. There is no room in our Navy for this 

toxic behavior and we are aggressively going after it. We are committed to eradicating this 

behavior and mindset from our force, and have recently done so in the following ways: 

• Conducted Navy-wide, small-team discussions about "No Bystanders," and our 

expectations for online conduct 

• Reviewed and re-issued online policies and guidelines for Sailors to ensure expectations 

for online behavior is well established, and is consistent with our high standards and 

expectations for all other means of treating each other with respect and dignity 

• Expanding the extent to which we address online behavior in our continuing sexual 

assault I sexual harassment campaign plan 

• Reviewing and expanding initial recruit and officer accession training 

• Executing a Leader Development Framework that outlines how the Navy will develop 

leaders who demonstrate both operational excellence and strong character 

In the beginning ofFY2016, we continued our Fleet-wide training series with Chart the 

Course focused on creating culturally aware and educated Sailors and an environment intolerant 

of sexual assault and other dcstmctive behaviors. This year, we launched Full Speed Ahead, 

training that continues our eflorts to combat all types of destructive behaviors across the Fleet, 

while reinforcing core attributes of the Navy, and signature behaviors, as the foundation of a 

resilient and professional force. Continuing on our training efforts, Full Speed Ahead blends 

scenario-based videos with facilitator-led discussions to focus on all Sailors, with a unique 

emphasis on the critical role of mid-level leaders in addressing and preventing destructive 

behaviors and their associated effects on individuals, work centers (micro-climates) and 

commands. 

We are reviewing and evaluating our Sexual Assault Prevention and Response prevention 

strategy, program training content, dosage and periodicity, to ensure the training is having the 

desired impact, such as knowledge transfer, issue awareness and intervention skills. 

Understanding that changing behavior is an evolving science, we continue collaboration with 

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57 

academia and other organizations, such as the Centers for Disease Control, to investigate 

research-informed and evidence-based prevention strategies to reduce and ultimately eliminate 

destructive behaviors. We are pursuing expertise in the field of behavioral science, which will 

allow us to address the complex societal issues that affect Sailors and impact readiness levels. 

We are maturing our capability to use data analytics to understand more fully the nature of 

incidents that result from destructive decisions and allow more targeted prevention efforts. 

Prevention strategies must exist with a strong response capability, with investigations into 

suspected misbehavior, and accountability for individuals who violate the standards both 

criminally and administratively. We remain committed to ensuring victims are treated with 

compassion and receive quality care, conducting investigations with a high-level of competence 

and timeliness, and providing a fair and equitable system of appropriate accountability to 

promote justice and assist in maintaining good order and discipline in the Navy. Consequently, 

all Navy websites have been updated to provide the NCIS text and tip line, and we are reviewing 

the Uniform Code of Military Justice and Navy policy governing administrative separation. 

Additionally, through Navy's partnership with the Office of the Secretary of Defense and other 

Services, we are executing a strategy to prevent and respond to retaliation, by betterunderstanding the prevalence of retaliatory behavior, which includes reprisal, ostracism and 

maltreatment. 

Fleet and Family Support programs are a critical component in enhancing mission 

readiness and Navy's 21st Century Sailor initiative. Family support programs assist 

commanding officers, Sailors and their families in managing the unique demands of the military 

lifestyle, balancing military commitment with family life. Navy Fleet and Family Support 

Centers ensure military families are informed, healthy, and resilient through robust programs to 

include relocation assistance, non-medical and family counseling, personal and family life 

education, personal financial management services, infmmation and referral services, 

deployment assistance, domestic violence prevention and response services, exceptional family 

member liaison, emergency family assistance and transition assistance. Navy child and youth 

programs provide the highest quality childcare. Navy morale, welfare, and recreation programs 

provide core fitness and recreation for Sailors and their families to enhance quality of life and 

encourage life-long positive and healthy leisure pursuits. We extended hours of operation at 

fitness centers and child development centers in response to the demand signal from Sailors and 

their families, which positively influences decisions to remain in the Navy and improves our 

ability to meet fleet readiness requirements. 

Navy education programs including credentialing remain in high demand. In FY2016, 

Navy executed I 00 percent oftuition assistance and funded every credentialing request by 

eligible sailors. Navy Credentialing Program continues to evolve with a recently launched Navy 

COOL app. Navy is constantly exploring and adding to the over 1,875 funded credentialing 

opportunities currently available for enlisted, active and reserve. Navy Credcntialing Program 

catalogs and defines information on occupational credentials correlating to every applicable 

Navy rating, job, designator, and collateral duty/out of rate assignment. 

To support implementation of the Blended Retirement System, Navy is implementing the 

DoD opt-in training to assist current Sailors in their decision-making, and developing new 

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58 

accession training for those entering the Navy after the transition to the new retirement system. 

To support Financial Literacy Education, we developed financial readiness programs using a 

military lifecycle approach that begin at the entry level, are reinforced at the first duty station, 

and progress throughout a Sailor's military career lifecyclc, to assist them in identifying their 

individual financial training needs at required touch points. 

Navy Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention programs support enhanced Fleet, Family, and 

Personal Readiness through aggressive alcohol abuse and drug abuse prevention. Substance 

abuse places lives and missions at risk, undercuts unit readiness and morale, is often involved in 

other destructive behaviors, and is inconsistent with Navy's ethos and core values of Honor, 

Courage and Commitment. 

The Keep What You've Earned campaign seeks to foster improved decision making to 

protect a Sailor's career investment by creating an environment that encourages the responsible 

consumption of alcohol in the Navy. This campaign teaches Sailors practical methods to drink 

responsibly, educates about the consequences of poor decisions regarding alcohol use, promotes 

and encourages altematives to drinking alcohol, enables leadership to assist with Sailor 

education, and creates partnerships between Navy and civilian programs focused on Sailor wellbeing. 

Navy's policy on drug abuse is zero tolerance. Detection, deterrence, and prevention are 

key elements in combating drug abuse. Our expanded urinalysis program detects prescription 

drugs and synthetic drugs. As a result, detections of wrongful prescription drug use have 

climbed, while positive synthetic drug results have declined. We continue our "Prescription for 

Discharge" campaign to educate Sailors on the proper use of prescription drugs. Our goal is to 

provide Sailors with the support network, health care, and skills, needed to overcome adversity 

and make responsible decisions. 

VIII. CONCLUSION 

We must continue to attract, recruit, develop, assign, and retain a highly skilled Navy 

workforce. The Navy's manpower, personnel, training and education, and support programs are 

postured to bolster Sailors and their families and increase their resilience. I look forward to 

working with you as we continue to shape the Navy to meet current and emerging requirements. 

On behalf of the men and women of the United States Navy and their families, thank you for 

your sustained commitment and unwavering support. 

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5/27/2016- Present 

Vice Admiral Robert P. Burke 

Vice Adm. Robert Burke grew up in Portage, Michigan, and holds bachelor's and master's 

degrees in electrical engineering from Western Michigan University and the University of 

Central Florida. 

Burke's operational assignments include service aboard both attack and ballistic missile 

submarines, including USS Von Steuben (SSBN 632), USS Maryland (SSBN 738) and 

USS Bremerton (SSN 698). He commanded USS Hampton (SSN 767) in Norfolk, 

Virginia, and was commodore of Submarine Development Squadron (DEVRON) 12 in 

Groton, Connecticut. Burke was recognized by the United States Submarine League with 

the Jack Darby Award for Leadership in 2004 and the Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale 

Award for Inspirational Leadership in 2005. 

His staff assignments include tours as an instmctor and director for the Electrical 

Engineering Division at Naval Nuclear Power School, junior board member on the Pacific 

Fleet Nuclear Propulsion Examining Board, submarine officer community manager/ 

nuclear officer program manager; senior Tactical Readiness Evaluation Team member at 

Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet; the deputy director for Operations, 

Strategy and Policy Directorate (15) at United States Joint Forces Command; the division 

director, Submarine/Nuclear Power Distribution (PERS-42); and director, Joint and Fleet 

Operations, N3/N5, U.S. Fleet Forces Command. 

As a flag officer, Burke has served as deputy commander, U.S. 6th Fleet; director of 

operations (N3), U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa; commander, Submarine Group 8; and 

most recently as director, Military Personnel Plans and Policy (OPNAV N 13). 

He assumed duties as the Navy's 58th chief of naval personnel, May 27, 2016. Serving 

concurrently as the deputy chief of naval operations (Manpower, Personnel, Training and 

Education) (N l ), he is responsible for the planning and programming of all manpower, 

personnel, training and education resources for the U.S. Navy. He leads more than 26,000 

employees engaged in the recmiting, personnel management, training and development of 

Navy personnel. His responsibilities include overseeing Navy Recruiting Command, Navy 

Personnel Command and Naval Education and Training Command. 

His awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit (five awards) 

and various campaign and unit awards. 
60 

NOT PUBLIC UNTIL RELEASED BY THE 

HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE 

STATEMENT 

OF 

LIEUTENANT GENERAL MARK A. BRILAKIS 

DEPUTY COMMANDANT FOR MANPOWER & RESERVE AFFAIRS 

UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS 

BEFORE THE 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON PERSONNEL 

OF THE 

HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE 

CONCERNING 

MILITARY PERSONNEL POSTURE 

NOT PUBLIC UNTIL RELEASED BY THE 

HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE 

ON 

17 MAY 2017 
61 

Lieutenant General Mark A. Brilakis, USMC 

Deputy Commandant for Manpower and Reserve Affairs 

Lieutenant General Mark Andrew Brilakis is currently assigned as the Deputy Commandant for 

Manpower and Reserve Affairs. 

He graduated fi·om Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and was commissioned 

through the Platoon Leaders Class in May 1981. 

Assignments in the Operating Forces include: Battery Officer, I st Battalion, I Oth Marines; Battery 

Commander, Battalion FDO, and S-3, 5th Battalion, lOth Marines; Naval Gunfire Control Otlicer 

and Assistant Supporting A1ms Coordinator, Amphibious Group Two; Future Operations and 

MAGTF Planner, G-3, II MEF; Executive Officer, lOth Marine Regiment; Commanding Officer 1st 

Battalion, lOth Marines; Commanding General, 3d Marine Expeditionary Brigade, Deputy 

Commanding General, lii Marine Expeditionary Force, and Commanding General, 3d Marine 

Division. 

Assignments in the Suppmting Establishment include: Company Otlicer and Commanding Officer, 

Company A, and Course Developer, MCI Company, Marine Ban·acks, Washington DC; 

Commanding Oflicer, Weapons Training Battalion, Training Command; and the Commanding 

General, Marine Corps Recruiting Command. 

Headquarters and Staff assignments include: Status of Forces Officer, Plans, Policies, and 

Operations Department, IIQMC; llead, Program Development Branch, Programs and Resources 

Department, HQMC; Director, European Liaison Office, Headquarters, U.S. European Command, 

Deputy J-3, United States European Command, and Assistant Deputy Commandant (Programs), 

Programs & Resources Deprutment, HQMC. 

Military Education: Amphibious Warfare School; Command and Staff College; School of 

Advanced W ru·fighting; and CMC Fellow, Center for Strategic and International Studies. Masters in 

Military Studies, Marine Corps University. 

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62 

INTRODUCTION 

Chainnan Coftinan, Ranking Member Speier, and distinguished Members of the 

Subcommittee, it is my privilege to appear before you today to provide an overview on Marine 

Corps personnel. 

Since our founding in 1775, Marines have answered our Nation's call, faithfully serving the 

American people and maintaining a standard of military excellence. Your Marine Corps is, and will 

continue to be, our Nation's expeditionary force in readiness. We are ready to rapidly respond to 

crises around the Globe to ensure the continued security of the American people and to protect the 

interests that underpin our Nation. Marines will be alwaysfaithfid to the trust which the American 

people have vested in them. 

OUR PEOPLE 

Marines arc the foundation of the Marine Corps. They arc the Corps' most critical resource, 

and always have been. Your Marines are recruited, educated, trained, and retained to win our 

Nation's battles. They are smart, resilient, fit, disciplined, and able to overcome adversity. 

Recruiting high quality youth and retaining those whose past service and future potential continues 

to make the Corps stronger are our highest priorities. Today, through the hard work and diligence 

of our recruiting force we continue to identify high quality men and women of character who desire 

to take up our challenge to serve this great nation as United States Marines. 

End Strength 

The Marine Corps operating forces are currently averaging, in the aggregate, deployment to 

dwell ratio below l :2. This tempo is not sustainable as it does not provide options to train to our 

full mission sets and puts unreasonable strain on our Marines and families. 

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We thank you for the increased end strength authorization to 185,000 in the FY17 National 

Defense Authorization Act. This increase will allow us to strengthen our capabilities to meet 

wartighting requirements. Our Marines want to deploy, serve our Nation, and protect our country 

from threats overseas. We owe our Marines and their families the appropriate deployment-to-dwell 

time to allow them to re-focus, learn from their most recent deployment, and train for the next 

deployment or contingency. 

Fiscal instability impacts our ability to plan and challenges our current and future readiness. 

Operating under continuing resolutions (CR) increases risk and interferes with our ability to 

accurately plan and execute critical programs, to include paying for military personnel pay raises 

and the higher end strength goal mandated in the FY17 National Defense Authorization Act 

(NOAA). Passing the Appropriations Bill early in the fiscal year allows us to better manage our 

military personnel entitlements to include discretionary funding for recruiting and retention. 

Recruiting 

All recruiting efforts for the Marine Corps (officer, enlisted, regular, reserve, and priorservice) fall under the purview of the Marine Corps Recruiting Command. Operationally, this 

provides us with tremendous flexibility and unity of command, facilitating efforts to meet accession 

requirements. The Marine Corps applies, evaluates, and refines proven, time-tested officer and 

enlisted recruiting policies and procedures that are reflected in the high mental, moral, and physical 

standards of our applicants, such as SAT, ACT, and ASVAB testing; pre-enlistment physical 

screening and fitness tests; and security background checks and pre-enlistment screening. 

Last fiscal year, we successfully achieved all enlisted and officer recruiting goals for both 

the Active and Reserve Components. Our FY17 enlisted mission is 32,500 regulars (active 

component) and 5,302 reservists. We expect to achieve our annual recruiting 'shipping' mission 

(i.e. new accessions sent to recruit training) and quality goals. The Department of Defense requires 

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64 

90 percent of enlistees to have a high school diploma or equivalent. Last year, the Marine Corps 

achieved 99.9 percent and expects to be at or near this level for FYI7. 

Our officer accession mission for FYI7 is I ,600 active duty and I 05 Reserve officers. We 

are well on our way toward these goals and foresee no issues meeting them. 

Incentives, such as our enlistment bonuses, allow us to ship new recruits at critical times to 

balance recruit loads at the recruit depots and meet school seat requirements. It is important to note 

that only eight percent of new Marine Corps recruits receive an enlistment bonus. We appreciate 

Congress' support for these priority programs that assist our contracting high quality Marines. 

To meet future challenges in the current recruiting environment, it is imperative that we 

maintain our high standards both for our recruiters and those who volunteer to serve in our Corps. 

Recruiting quality young individuals ultimately translates into higher performance, reduced 

attrition, increased retention, and improved readiness for the operating forces. Our actions, 

commitment, and investments in recruiting today ensure a high state of readiness in our Corps 

tomorrow. 

Retention 

As the Marine Corps manages its 185,000 force, the challenge to keep high-quality Marines 

in the service in a competitive civilian job market continues. We will retain the very best Marines 

capable of fulfilling our leadership and operational needs. This is accomplished through a 

competitive career designation process for officers and a thorough evaluation process for enlisted 

Marines, both of which arc designed to measure, analyze, and compare our Marines' performance 

and accomplishments. 

Marine Corps retention models, systems, policies, and processes emphasize consistency of 

leadership, personnel stability, and sustained readiness across the force. Officer career designation 

incorporates a board system that enables leaders to examine officer records and accomplishments. 

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65 

After designation, the promotion process continues the evaluation of Marine officers. It is a 

primary tool by which we retain only the best and most qualified Marines. 

A tiered rating system for enlisted Marines takes into account a number of quantifiable 

performance factors and includes both immediate and higher leaders' input. It helps to set 

achievable goals for Marines as they compete for retention. After initial reenlistment, the 

evaluation and continued retention of high quality enlisted Marines is supported by a detailed and 

continual performance evaluation system which is fully integrated with the promotion process. 

Those Marines with the best proven records are promoted and retained. 

Incentive pays remain critical to our retention effort, allowing the Marine Corps to fill hard 

to recruit positions, such as cyber security technicians and counter intelligence specialists. 

Similarly, Selective Reenlistment Bonuses (SRBs) allow us to shape our career force. SRBs target 

critical MOSs and support lateral movement of Marines to these MOSs. We appreciate the 

committee's continued support to ensure we have the resources required to meet our retention goals. 

Marine Corps Reserves 

Your Marine Corps Reserve will be at its authorized end strength of38,500 Marines by the 

end ofFY17. We foresee no challenges in meeting this goal. Our reserve unit personnel readiness 

stands at its highest level in a generation. Unit personnel readiness has increased from 71 percent in 

June 2013 to over 85 percent in Apri120 17. Higher enlisted retention rates have also improved 

significantly. For example, our Staff NCO manning has increased 12 percentage points from 

September 2013 to the present. 

While these are welcome and positive trends, we are always looking for ways to improve 

personnel readiness. We have implemented a comprehensive manpower management plan to 

provide full service support to our Reserve officers and StaffNCOs for their career management. 

Beginning in FY18, we will expand this plan to provide fl.Ill-service manpower management 

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66 

support for the entire Selected Reserve. This is a talent management initiative that will help our 

NCOs, StaffNCOs, and officers move between commands to enhance their development and 

military career goals. This initiative will enhance our active and reserve units with the "right 

Marine, at the right place, at the right time." 

Our reserve officer manning has vastly improved as well. In fact, officer manning reached a 

record high of94 percent in March 2017. This increase has been driven by two major sources: 

officers transitioning from the Active Component, and the Reserve Ofticer Commissioning 

Program. Bonuses and incentives have been effective in attracting more Marines from the Active 

Component. Additionally, the Reserve Ofticer Commissioning Program (ROCP) has produced a 

total of 1,171 lieutenants for the Marine Corps reserves since its creation in 2006. As a result, our 

ground company grade officer manning has increased from 21 percent in 2013, to 90 percent today. 

In FYI7, we ensured that all ROCP lieutenants were offered the chance to complete an active duty 

experience tour, the opportunity to serve on active duty for one year with counterparts in the Active 

Component. This tour professionalizes the force by developing these officers' occupational and 

leadership skills, through practical operational experience in the active component, and by 

lncilitating the integration of the Total Force. 

Beginning in PY16, your Marine Corps Reserves has increased the number of Reserve 

Marines activating under the 12304b mobilization authority for pre-planned training missions 

supporting Combatant Commander requirements. Several provisions addressing reservists benefits 

under l2304b were included in the initial draft FY17 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), 

but were not in the final bill. We look forward to working with Congress on this important issue. 

Blended Retirement System 

The Marine Corps is diligently preparing for the new Blended Retirement System (BRS) 

that goes into effect on January I, 2018. As you are well aware, the new system is a significant 

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67 

change from the legacy retirement system and, while it confers a monetary benefit on the large 

majority of Marines who do not reach retirement eligibility, we remain concerned on the potential 

impact on retention behavior of the force. With over 184,000 Marines both active and reservehaving to make an "opt-in" decision during CYI8, will be closely monitoring the BRS for any these 

and other impacts. 

In 2017, the Marine Corps is focused on training those current Marines who may elect to 

enroll in the BRS during calendar year 2018. Headquarters Marine Corps subject matter experts 

recently concluded visits to major bases and installations, briefing over 2,000 officer and enlisted 

leaders on the tools available to educate their Marines. The Marine Corps has implemented an 

integrated communications plan employing administrative messages and a website with training 

links, videos, and robust reference material. We have utilized the Marine Corps' social media 

platforms to increase awareness and knowledge regarding the BRS and the associated training 

requirements. We will continue to closely track BRS training progress throughout 20 I 7 and work 

to ensure that all Marines who are eligible to enroll in BRS are properly trained and postured to 

make an educated decision on their futures. 

Marine Corps Integration 

As our Commandant testified to last year, executing a successful gender integration plan is 

key to sustaining readiness, as well as ensuring we afford all Marines the greatest opportunity to 

succeed as valued members of the Corps. The Marine Corps is fully committed to sustaining the 

most combat effective force by capitalizing on the knowledge, skills, abilities, demonstrated 

performance, and potential of every Marine. 

The Marine Corps Integration Implementation Plan (MCIIP) addresses both short-terrn and 

long-term tasks intended to ensure the efficient and effective integration of female Marines into 

newly-opened Military Occupational Specialties (MOSs) and units. These tasks are either complete 

8 
68 

or in place as enduring efforts, to include a comprehensive, longitudinal assessment. Female 

Marines are now represented in all previously-restricted occupational fields. Because the MCI!P is 

still early in execution, the number of female Marines working in newly-opened MOSs and units 

remains relatively small thus far. Implementation is proceeding and the Marine Corps is committed 

to its long-term success. As we evaluate progress and success of our integration efforts, we will 

focus on three underlining priorities: (I) combat effectiveness; (2) health and welfare of individual 

Marines; and (3) talent management. 

Civilian Marines 

Our Civilian Marines support the mission and daily functions of the Marine Corps and are 

an integral part of our Total Force. They exemplifY our core values; they embrace esprit de corps, 

teamwork, and pride in belonging to our Nation's Corps of Marines. Serving alongside our Marines 

throughout the world, in every occupation and at every level, our civilian appropriated-funded 

workforce remains by far the leanest of all services, with a ratio of one civilian to every ten active 

duty Marines. 

Approximately 95 percent of our appropriated funded civilians work outside the 

Washington, DC, beltway; they work at fifty-seven bases, stations, depots, and installations around 

the world. Sixty-nine percent are veterans who have chosen to continue to serve our Nation; of 

those, eighteen percent are disabled veterans. Our civilian non-appropriated funded workforce 

steadfastly continues to provide vital support to our Marines, reserve Marines, their families, and 

our wounded, ill and injured. 

Already lean, we are in the midst of reducing our 17,500 Civilian Marine appropriated fund 

workforce to 15,800 by the end ofFY17, and are working to implement the Management 

Headquarters Activities provision in the FY16 NOAA. We are actively seeking ways to achieve 

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69 

these goals through attrition and various voluntary workforce-shaping flexibilities; our intent is not 

to implement any service-wide reduction in force (RIF). 

The last few years have not been easy on our Civilian Marines, with limited pay raises, 

furloughs or threat of furloughs, and the recent hiring freeze. Throughout all of this uncertainty, our 

civilians have truly showed themselves as Semper Fidel is as they kept our Marines and their 

families in the forefront. For that, they have my personal admiration. During these challenging 

times, it is imperative that we continue to keep faith with our workforce, else we risk losing 

enormously talented and dedicated professionals. 

TAKING CARE OF MARINES AND THEIR FAMILIES 

Taking care of Marines and their families is a key element of overall readiness and combat 

effectiveness. The adage "we recruit Marines, we retain families" remains as true today as ever. 

Our comprehensive package of services seeks the holistic fitness and readiness of our Marines and 

families body, mind, spirit, and social. 

Behavioral Health 

The Marine Corps Behavioral Health Program is an integrated community-based service 

model focused on family advocacy as well as the prevention and intervention of suicide, substance 

abuse, and combat operational stress. When addressing behavioral health care, we typically see 

Marines, family members, and attached Sailors, with multiple stressors or conditions. Because 

behavioral health issues are complex and involve common stressors and factors, the Marine Corps 

operates with a holistic view of prevention. 

The Corps introduced a number of initiatives over the past 5 years designed to support 

Marines in the prevention of behavioral health issues. For example, PWYE ("Protect What You've 

Earned') is a simple decision-making framework for Marines and Sailors to consider consequences 

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of their personal behavior and actions, including but not limited to impacts on prestige, respect, 

admiration, rauk, compensation, benefits, and veteran status. The focus of PWYE is the individual 

Marine or Sailor aud what he or she values most. The intent ofPWYE is to reinforce the Marine's 

inherent desire to safeguard those life-long investments and hard-earned achievements, specifically 

upholding the title "Marine." 

To support our Marines, attached Sailors, aud families, the Marine Corps offers world-class 

prevention and counseling services at each installation. All behavioral health programs provide free 

confidential services offered by licensed, credentialed professionals. Professionals conduct 

comprehensive assessments and individually tailor counseling sessions to address substance abuse, 

relationship difficulties, domestic violence, child neglect, and other stress related concerns before 

more serious conditions develop. These services are available to individuals, couples, families and 

children. During FYl6, Behavioral Health programs at Marine Corps installations provided nearly 

15,000 assessments and more than l 01,000 counseling hours to Marines and their families. 

Suicide Prevention 

One of the highest priorities of our behavioral health program is suicide prevention. 

Preventing suicide has proven to be a very challenging task given the complex nature of the 

problem. We are constantly evolving and assessing our programs to leverage best practices. 

A locus of our suicide prevention efforts is the Marine Intercept Program (MIP). It is a 

combined effort between service members, commanders, installation Community Counseling 

Programs, and Headquarters Marine Corps. MIP provides care coordination, regular telephone 

check-ins, and suicide assessment for Marines and attached Sailors with a reported suicidal ideation 

or suicide attempt. MIP is a targeted intervention for Marines identified at increased risk for 

suicide. Services include risk assessment safety planning and care coordination. Caring contacts 

are made after an event for a minimum of 90 days. In 2016, the Marine Corps had I ,329 reports of 

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suicide ideations or attempts that were referred to MIP; 81 percent of Marines who were offered 

MIP accepted the services. Based on a preliminary review of early MIP data, Marines receiving 

MIP services accessed care 2.5 times sooner, missed fewer appointments, and engaged in specialty 

care at higher rates. 

The Marine Corps DSTRESS line provides anonymous, 24/7/365 phone, chat and Skype 

support with a duty to warn if danger is imminent. Since its inception in 2010, DSTRESS has helped 

save 39 lives. It also helps increase the total fitness of our Marine Corps families by providing them 

with live support to effectively cope with the wide spectrum of challenges of life in the Corps. 

Marines contact DSTRESS for many reasons including relationship issues, stress management, posttraumatic stress, depression-suicidal ideation, and sexual assault. 

The Marine Corps utilizes suicide prevention social media campaigns. The message is a 

"Call to Action" - asking Marines to take steps and pay attention to individuals experiencing 

emotional distress or may be expressing suicidal thoughts on social media. The social media posts 

highlight the DSTRESS Line, and instruct individuals to use social media suicide prevention tools 

to report concerns. To date, over 700,000 individuals viewed and shared these social media posts 

and Armed Forces Network (AFN) Public Services Announcements worldwide. 

Sexual Assault Prevention & Response 

The fight to prevent sexual assault is an ongoing effort. We are encouraged by FYI6 survey 

data indicating a 30 percent decrease in the prevalence of sexual assault since FYI4, continuing a 

steady decrease in prevalence since 2012. While we are making progress, we recognize that there is 

still more to be done. To fully support all who are impacted by sexual assault, the Marine Corps 

provides advocacy and support resources to dependents and eligible civilians, in addition to service 

members. Any Marine who comes forward to report a sexual assault will receive support, no matter 

when the sexual assault occurred. For those service members who experienced a sexual assault 

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prior to their military service, the Marine Corps often provides the first opportunity to seek 

professional support and care. We track and report these incidents as we do those incidents in 

service so that we account for the full scope of our response effort. 

Fiscal Year 2016 data show that we have sustained levels of reporting. This level of 

reporting suggests continued confidence in our response system. Reporting is the catalyst for victim 

care and offender accountability. In FY16, the Marine Corps also saw an increase in the number of 

reports from male Marines, a population traditionally reluctant to report. This coincided with a 

concerted effort to reach out to male service members. W c employed an extensive communication 

strategy that focused on awareness, outreach, prevention, and supportive services. Our posts on 

official Marine Corps social media pages reached more than 1.6 million people. 

Sexual assault is a complex problem with many facets. The Marine Corps recognizes that 

destructive behaviors like alcohol abuse and sexual assault can be interrelated. Therefore, in 2016, 

we developed a Professional Military Education (PME) titled "Join the Conversation" which 

encourages participants to identify potentially destructive behaviors, confront biases, and intervene 

appropriately when necessary. We have carried the momentum from this effort forward, developing 

a campaign on Marine Corps social media and in print that shares methods to identify and respond 

to destmctive behaviors. Additionally, we organized two symposiums in April 2017 to better 

understand the nature of gender bias and the problem of social media misconduct. Drawing on 

researchers, public health representatives, law enforcement officers, and Marine subject matter 

experts, the symposiums facilitated dynamic and collaborative discussions on social media 

misconduct and gender bias. 

In coordination with DoD and our sister Services, we have also worked to combat 

retaliation. The Marine Corps takes allegations and acts of retaliation very seriously. Retaliatory 

behavior- whether on duty, on liberty, or online- is detrimental to victims, unit cohesion and 

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readiness. The way ahead for combatting retaliation, as it relates to sexual assault or sexual 

harassment, is engaged leadership, enhanced training, and improved communication to the fleet. 

Personal and Professional Development 

As Marines transition to civilian life, it is imperative that we ensure they have the right 

preparation to reach personal goals and effectively translate their military experiences to a 

successful civilian life. 

One way to ensure Marines will be successful in transitioning is for their military skills and 

work experience to be transferred into civilian employment. The Marine Corps Credentialing 

Opportunities On-Line (COOL) is part of that initiative. COOL links Marines with civilian 

certifications related to their Military Occupational Specialties. It is a public website, accessible to 

all current Marines, as well as veterans, spouses, potential employers, enterprises, credentialing 

agencies, and associations. A credential translates Marine Corps technical skills into marketable 

language recognized by employers and may make the post-service job search easier. Marines are 

able to choose from 943 certifications depending on their Military Occupational Specialty or hy the 

name of a specific credential or agency. The Marine Corps will pay for examination fees and 

annual maintenance for enlisted Marines to earn civilian/industry credentials closely aligned with 

the Marine's Military Occupational Specialty. 

Our Marine For Life Cycle is a career-long process that helps Marines prepare for transition. 

The Marine Corps strives to provide a continuum of tangible learning or experienced-based 

opportunities at nine different Action Points to ensure that every Marine is transition-ready 

throughout their career. Emphasis is placed on three primary action points where Marines will be 

asked to devote specific time and energy to transition readiness: First Permanent Duty Station, 

promotion to Corporal, and at the Transition Readiness Seminar. 

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At their First Permanent Duty Station, Marines complete the Personal Readiness Seminar 

within 90 days of arrival to the installation. This seminar provides an overview of Personal and 

Professional Development services to include Voluntary Education, Career 

Technical/Credentialing, Personal Financial Management, Family Member Employment 

Assistance, and Infmmation and Referral; the seminar also emphasizes financial readiness 

awareness. 

As an element of "Leading Marines," "Your Readiness" training is required for promotion 

to Corporal. This online, Marine Net training provides an overview of Personal and Professional 

Development services; the reenlistment process, transition readiness, developing the Individual 

Transition Plan (ITP), and an introduction to available resources and support provided at our 

installations. 

Approximately 12-14 months prior to separation or 24 months prior to retirement, Marines 

complete the Transition Readiness Seminar. The week-long program seminar includes a mandatory 

standardized core curriculum followed by three two-day track options to align with their individual 

future goals and aspirations. Available track options are Accessing lligher Education, Career and 

Technical Training, or Entrepreneurship. 

No later than 90 days prior separation, Marines meet with their commanding officer for 

Capstone. During Capstone, the commanding officer will validate whether the Marine has met their 

career readiness standards. If a Marine does not meet their career readiness standards or have a 

viable transition plan, a wa1m handover will be provided to Department of Labor or V etcran Affairs 

patiner agencies for additional post-transition assistance. After separation, our nationwide network 

of Marine For Life representatives provide reach back support to Marines via the Marine For Life 

Network. 

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The Marine For Life Network formally extends our commitment to "take care of our own" 

by growing and sustaining a self-perpetuating, Marine-friendly network to inform Marines and their 

families of resources identified through the network in order to assist with the transition to civilian 

life and pursuit of lifelong goals. In order to build a robust virtual community, we are currently 

expanding our online presence on Linked In and Facebook. Our goal is to have an online 

community and network of Marines and triends of Marines to help transitioning Marines identify 

opportunities in the civilian marketplace. 

Wounded Warrior Care 

The Marine Corps' Wounded Warrior Regiment (WWR) continues to execute our service's 

recovery coordination pro1,>ram in support of wounded, ill, or injured Marines and their families, in 

a manner that greatly facilitates their recovery and upholds our enduring commitment to "keep 

faith" with those who have incurred life changing impaiiments in service to our Nation. Regardless 

of the origin of affliction, our Marines supporting operations in or near combat zones, those 

requiring continued suppmi for PTS and TBI, and those with complex care needs as the result of 

severe non-combat illnesses require and genuinely deserve access to the comprehensive recovery 

care available through the WWR. 

WWR Recovery Care Coordinators, in coordination with medical providers and unit leaders, 

help WI! Marines develop and execute their individual Comprehensive Recovery Plans, which 

provide the road map for a successful transition. Wll Marines with complex care coordination 

needs are assessed for post-separation support requirements. When appropriate, those Marines and 

their recovery needs are transferred to a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) designated Lead 

Coordinator prior to their medical discharge to prevent gaps in suppmi. WWR maintains faith with 

our Marines through our District Injured Support Coordinators and the Sergeant Merlin German 

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Call Center, which conducts outreach calls to those Marines and receives and responds to calls for 

assistance 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 

Since our WWR was established in 2007, thousands ofWil Marines and family members 

transitioning from active service have benefitted from a full spectrum of support services that 

focuses on post service employment and education opportunities and connects them to the benefits 

and services available through the VA and local civilian community resources. Particular emphasis 

is placed on ensuring those in need have access to behavioral health support post separation. 

Marines and their families, members of Congress, and the public at large can be assured that 

the Marine Corps, through the WWR, will continue to expertly provide recovery care coordination 

support in times of war and peace. 

Marine Corps Exchange Services 

The Marine Corps delivers a myriad of quality of life programs via an integrated Marine 

Corps Community Services (MCCS) construct that combines Morale, Welfare and Recreation 

(MWR); Marine Corps Exchange (MCX); Warfighter and Family Services; and Child Development 

Programs. This integrated model is unique within DoD and provides many operating ef1iciencies, 

including consolidated non-appropriated fund back-office support, e.g. human resources, finance 

and accounting, procurement, construction, and infonnation technology. The MCX is a selfsustaining retail operation, providing critical non-appropriated fund dividend support for MWR 

programs. These revenue contributions remain an essential and mission critical asset to the Marine 

Corps. 

Our MCX is an integral business component ofMCCS, delivering products and services in 

garrison and expeditionary environments. Marines and their families can count on real savings 

when they shop at the MCX. The September 2016 market basket survey showed an average savings 

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of approximately 25 percent. Further, our MCX is proud to employ military family members, 

representing approximately 33 percent of our workforce. 

Transfom1ation and innovation are the fabric ofMCCS as we continue to investigate new 

program and service delivery models by leveraging technology, partnerships, and sponsorships. 

These efforts will transform our critically important businesses and enhance the overall services 

provided to Marines and their families. The Marine Corps is also an active participant in the 

Defense Resale Business Optimization Board chartered to seek efficiencies, while preserving the 

valued quality of life benefits provided by both commissaries and exchanges. 

CONCLUSION 

The Marines of our Corps represent the American people who have stepped forward and 

sworn to defend and protect our Nation. Through recruiting, training, education, and retention of 

men and women of character who take up our challenge to become one of "the Few and the Proud," 

we will enhance the quality of our Corps and our overall combat effectiveness. By ensuring that we 

take care of all Marines and their families, we fulfill our responsibility to keep faith with the honor, 

courage, and commitment they have so H·eely given. 

Our individual Marines are our most precious asset. They are proud of what they do. They 

are proud of the "Eagle, Globe, and Anchor" and what it represents to our Nation. With your 

support, a vibrant Marine Corps will continue to meet our Nation's call. 

Thank you again for the opportunity to present this testimony. 

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FY18 AF/A1 HASC MILPERS POSTURE STATEMENT 

INTRODUCTION 

America's Air Force-and American Airmen-are "Always There" to provide Global Vigilance, 

Global Reach, and Global Power to our Joint and coalition partners and the American public. 

Our Airmen, 660,000 Active, Guard, Reserve, and civilian have been globally engaged for the 

last 26 years in combat operations across the domains of air, space, and cyberspace. Day in and 

day out-our Airmen provide America with air and space superiority; intelligence, surveillance 

and reconnaissance; rapid global mobility; global strike; and command and controL To meet 

sustained and emerging mission demands, these critical capabilities demand resources and time 

for Airmen to train for a full-spectrum fight against violent extremism and a near-peer adversary. 

Our Aim1en must be organized, trained and equipped to be combat-ready for current and future 

Combatant Command requirements. To continue a 70 year tradition of breaking ban·iers, we 

must continue to attract, recruit and retain the required number of Airmen needed to support, 

train for, and execute our missions. 

WHERE WE ARE NOW 

In 2017, our Air Force Human Capital Enterprise faces three distinct challenges for the future: 

the need for increased end-strength to support cunent mission requirements, a national pilot 

crisis, and the needs of our Airmen and their families to include preventing all Jorms of 

interpersonal violence. 

End-Strength 

The Air Force's top priority is increasing Total Force end-strength. Our Ainnen, both military 

and civilian, are our most important asset Our Airmen are the support personnel, maintainers, 

and operators of advanced and complex air, space, and cyber systems. Without the 

professionalism, experience, and expertise of American Airmen, those systems would be useless. 

We remain steadfast in our support oftoday'sjoint fight despite a continual reduction in the Air 

Force's proportion to the size ofthc joint force. Despite minor active component growth in fiscal 

year 2016, the Air Force has made steep cuts in overall end-strength over the last I 0 years. Even 

as mission requirements grew to meet emerging mission demands, we cut nearly 40K active duty 

Airmen since 2006. This reduction in Airmen resulted in a significant loss of overall capability, 

capacity and readiness. 

The lack of required personnel affects our readiness and capability to respond to global crises. 

The high operational tempo levied on remaining personnel removes the time required to train for 

future, and potentially very different, conflicts. At cun·ent force structure levels, the operational 

tempo and deployments your Air Force maintains to support the joint force simply does not 

allow time for personnel to adequately train for future conflicts. An entire generation of Ainnen 

has prioritized operations over training. 

Congress' steadfast support in Air Force manpower growth will continue to help improve and 

maintain readiness, increase training capacity and maintenance accessions, and provide the 

manpower needed to sustain legacy airframes (A-1 0, EC-130, U-2, and RQ-4 Block 40) and 

onboard new weapon systems (F-35, KC-46, and B-21 ). Additionally, growth provides more 

capability within our remotely piloted aircraft enterprise; nuclear command, control and 

communications; intelligence and cyber missions. 
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FY18 AF/A1 HASC MILPERS POSTURE STATEMENT 

The Air Force appreciates the FYI7 NDAA support for Air Force end-strength growth to 321 K 

active duty Airmen. The Air Force's FY 18 President's Budget (PB) continues to leverage the 

Total Force to support ongoing operations and future missions based on global security and joint 

force requirements. These new missions, coupled with existing operational needs, drive 

manpower requirements even higher. Our FY18 PB requests 675K Total Force Airmen325.1 K active duty, 1 06.6K Guard, 69.8K Reserve, and 173.8K civilians. 

Pilot Crisis 

Our Air Force pilot shortage is part of a larger Nation-wide shortage. Demand for pilots across 

the commercial, military, and cargo sectors is outpacing the Nation's ability to produce qualified 

pilots. Within the Air Force, our pilot crisis results from multiple factors including sustained 

high operational tempo over many years, quality of life and quality of service issues. 

Additionally, the commercial aviation industry has a cunent and projected high-level demand for 

pilots with an inability to rapidly increase production. At the end ofFY 2016, the Total Force 

(active, reserve, and guard components) was short 1,555 pilots across all mission areas (608 

active, 653 guard, 294 reserve). Of this amount, the Total Force was short 1,211 fighter pilots 

(873 active, 272 guard, 66 reserve). Our greatest cone em is the active fighter pilot shortage that 

is prqjected to exceed I ,000 by the end ofFY 2017. 

Though our end-strength decreased 40K since 2006, we experienced significant growth across 

several mission areas. Additionally, a quarter-century at war has strained the force through 

reduced sortie rates and training availability. At cunent force stmcture levels, the operational 

tempo and deployments the Air Force maintains to support the joint force severely limits the 

time available for Airmen to adequately train for future conflicts. 

Personnel shortages are not limited to the pilot community and other career fields' shortages 

exacerbate our pilots' ability to trai.n. Maintenance shortages directly impact our ability to 

generate the required sorties needed to fully train our aircrews. In the aircraft maintenance field, 

we ended FYI5 with nearly 4,000 less maintainers than required. By the end ofFY16, we 

reduced that shortfall to 3,400. As our FY16 accessions graduate ti·om training pipelines in 

FY17 and report to their units, we expect the shortfall to drop to around 1,500. By the end of 

FY18, we anticipate being short by less than 1,000. The maintenance manning gap should be 

nearly closed by the end of FY 19. We will then have a fairly inexperienced force needing both 

training and time to fully recover required readiness levels. 

Another issue complicating our pilot crisis is the active recruitment of our rated Airmen by 

civilian aviation companies. Air Force pilots are highly attractive because of their proficiency, 

diverse experience, and the standardization and quality of military aviation training. A 2016 

RAND study, requested by the FY 16 NDAA and endorsed by OSD, projected a large growth in 

airline industry hiring over the next decade. This increased hiring will require the Air Force to 

significantly increase retention efforts. RAND modeled major airline hiring levels between 

3,200 3,800 pilots per year and an average 13 percent increase in airlines salaries. In reality, 

actual airline hiring and salary increases are already surpassing those predictions. According to 

Future and Active Pilot Advisors, major airlines hired more than 4,100 pilots last year and 

salaries increased by 17 percent. These annual hiring levels are expected to continue for the next 

1 0-15 years. 

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FY18 AF/A1 HASC MILPERS POSTURE STATEMENT 

Civilian job prospects are not the sole reason the Air Force is losing talent. A 2015 exit survey 

revealed additional motives tor separation, highlighting negative impacts to the quality of life 

and quality of service of our aviators and their families. Pilots are also influenced to leave the 

service when daily, non-flying requirements impede their ability to fly and train. This includes 

performing duties not directly related to their primary flying job such as creating the daily flying 

schedule, vault security duties, ancillary u·aining, and administrative support. Other quality of 

life issues include dit1icul!ies maintaining a homestation work-life balance when not deployed. 

This combination of high operational tempo, civilian airline pilot demand, and increased nonflying duties have created a perfect stotm-one the Air Force is acting quickly to address. The 

Air Force's action plan to mitigate these pilot shortfalls is three-pronged: reduce non-flying 

requirements, increase pilot production and increase retention. 

The Air Force is taking numerous steps to manage requirements by prioritizing operational unit 

assignments and implementing additional initiatives to mitigate shortages on statTs, deployed 

positions, and in the training enterprise. We also instituted programs to leverage our Total Force 

by providing opportunities for Air Reserve Component members to fill staff and training 

positions. Additionally, the Air Force is exploring opportunities for Air Reserve Component 

members to volunteer for 179- and 365-day deployments. 

The Air Force recognizes the need to increase pilot production and has taken steps to expand 

Undergraduate Pilot Training to maximize training capacity. Future increases in throughput 

requires additional manpower, infi·astructure, and operations and maintenance resources ahove 

what's in our budget. The Air Force is also actively pursuing additional ways to increase 

production across the entire training enterprise. This includes creating two new F-16 Fonnal 

Training Units, increasing the number of Total Force active-associate units, leveraging 

opportunities to increa~e active duty fighter pilot training at Air National Guard fighter units, and 

exploring a specific helicopter track for undergraduate pilot training to increase capacity for 

fixed wing pilots. 

Given the American taxpayer investment and the substantial time required to train and season an 

Air Force pilot, it is vital our nation retains this talent. The Air Force employs a variety of 

monetary and non-monetary force management initiatives to produce the right mix and number 

of experienced Airmen. We are appreciative that with Congressional assistance, the Air Force is 

set to implement the first increase in the Aviation Bonus in 18 years. We are using a tiered 

model to tailor the bonus to our areas of greatest need. We are also exploring a variety of 

incentives for less-desired, hard to fill assignments that have traditionally produced high 

separations. 

We realize that retaining our pi lot force goes beyond financial incentives .. .it's about culture. 

The Air Force is implementing many non-monetary effo1ts to strengthen the culture and improve 

the quality oflife and quality of service for our Airmen. We reduced additional duties, removed 

non-mission-essential training courses and outsourced select routine administrative tasks. All of 

these efforts allow our pilots to focus on their primary duty-flying. Furthermore, we increased 

the transparency and flexibility of the assignment process to promote family stability. We are 

also exploring additional options that provide for active duty pilots to work for the civilian 

aviation industry through the Career Intermission Program and then return to the active force to 

better balance individual, civilian and military needs and achieve long-term retention. 

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FY18AF/A1 HASC MILPERS POSTURE STATEMENT 

Building and Sustaining Resjlient and Ready Airmen and Families 

Foundational to Air Force culture is building and sustaining resilient and ready Airmen and 

Families. We are committed to providing the resources and programs to meet the needs our 

families and to ensure we are improving the performance of our A inn en to meet and exceed 

readiness demands. 

Resilience enables readiness. The Air Force recognizes this and is enhancing its Resilience 

Skills Program by increasing the number of Master Resilience Trainers (MRTs). MRTs arc 

selected by installation commanders and provide peer-to-peer support and instruction to their 

units. By the end of this summer, we will have more than 3,000 trained and qualified MRTs. 

Additionally, the current Resilience Skills curriculum taught to all Ailmen-from Basic Trainees 

to Senior Leaders-will be evaluated in FY18 to ensure we continuously adjust to the resiliency 

needs of Airmen. 

The resilience of our Airmen is critical-especially for those returning from a deployment. We 

ensure redeploying Aim1en who have seen combat or traumatic events downrange are afforded 

reintegration and decompression preparation at the Air Force's Deployment Transition Center 

(DTC). The DTC program at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, eases reintegration back into home 

units and families. 

To better understand the needs and challenges of military families the Secretary and Chief of 

Staff of the Air Force hosted an Air Force Spouses forum in October 2016. 60+ spouses 

attended in person with 1,700 attending virtually. Their concems focused on the Exceptional 

Family Member Program, child development centers, spouse employment and deployment 

support. As a result of their concerns, we partnered with the Office of Secretary of Defense to 

establish a working group with the National Governor's Association to advocate for reciprocity 

of spouse licensure and credentialing. This can vary from state to state and bar many of our 

highly qualified spouses from seeking employment. Additionally, we are providing 44 

additional Exceptional Family Member Program-Family Support coordinators as well as 

engaging with parents of Exceptional Family Members in quarterly webinars. 

Preyentjon oflntemersona! and Self-Directed violence 

The Air Force acknowledges that any form of interpersonal and se]f.direct violence is a 

detriment to our Airmen, our culture, and our core values. We are deeply committed to the 

prevention of any such violence in our Air Force. Each year we have more than I 00 sexual 

assaults at the Air Force Academy and 2,000 sexual assaults across our Air Force. Any number 

is a number too many. Currently, only I in 4 of these individuals will report the crime. The Air 

Force initiated a multi-pronged sexual assault prevention strategy that focused on systematically 

addressing risk factors for sexual assault using proven approaches and building prevention 

infrastructure and capacity. 

The supporting elements of our prevention strategy include leveraging resources such as an 

assessment tool used during recruitment to begin screening for individuals whose responses 

indicate an extraordinarily high propensity tor perpetrating assault. We're using evidence-based 

sexual assault prevention approaches-like our bystander intervention strategy-that has been 

proven to dramatically reduce sexual assault through culture change and resetting norms. 

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FY18AF/A1 HASC MILPERS POSTURE STATEMENT 

Additionally, we invested in fostering healthy relationships through a life skills training program 

that will be evaluated in a trial at the United States Air Force Academy in 2017. 

We also know that individuals who experienced sexual assault or abuse prior to military service 

are at heightened risk for sexual assault re-victimization in the Air Force. To address this risk, 

the Air Force embarked on formative research to adapt evidence-based programs used in college 

settings for use at our Basic Military Training (BMT). This part of our strategy will be evaluated 

at BMT in 2018. Finally, one of the keys to the successful execution of this strategy includes 

establishing strong integrated primary prevention infrastructure and professional staff at all 

levels. Primary prevention requires a unique and dedicated capability. In 2016, the Air Force 

began hiring violence prevention integrators for our installations and training them in a public 

health approach to violence prevention through an agreement with the Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention. These Violence Prevention Integrators will collaborate with other 

professionals to develop and execute local strategies to prevent sexual assault. 

The Air Force has established critical sexual assault response infrastructure with more effective 

supporting processes, accountability, and transparency. However, the most recent prevalence and 

response assessments show there is still more to accomp !ish to prevent sexual assault, increase 

reporting, and ensure the best response support for Airmen and commanders. 

The Air Force prevalence trend for sexual assault between20l4 and 2016 remains at 

approximately 2,400 Airmen. The FY16 Annual report on Active Duty Sexual Assault in the 

Military showed the Air Force received 1,355 reports of sexual assault during fiscal year FY16. 

Sexual assault reporting (in the year of occurrence) declined from 617 in 2014 to 563 in FY16. 

The majority of assaults reported were blue on blue with the perpetrator known by victim. 30% 

of sexual assault reports within the year remained restricted. Alcohol use and prior victimization 

are some of the highest risk factors for behavior and vulnerability. 

Violence is not always physical. In our digital age, forms of violence have bled into social 

media. The AF launched a social media working group to holistically assess existing guidance, 

policies, training and authorities. While we identified significant social media guidance already 

existed, we concluded our Airmen would benefit from consolidating that guidance into a single 

document. We also concluded Airmen would benefit if that guidance clearly established 

expectations and standards of behavior related to social media. This new guidance is currently in 

development and coordination, will be punitive and will be completed and issued in the next 60 

days. Given we had existing guidance and training we arc being less reactive and more 

deliberate in our actions. We also identified various levels of ongoing social media training 

within all our accession pipelines, officer and enlisted, as well as refi·cshcr training, although not 

always standardized. Once our social media guidance is revised, we plan to use it as the basis for 

updating all Air Force social media training to include ensuring appropriate revisit rates at 

various touch points throughout an Airman's career. Our updated guidance and training material 

will be provided to all commanders so they can personally engage with their Airmen to ensure 

clear understanding of social media use expectations. Finally, in coordination with the other 

Services, the Air Force is assessing existing UCMJ authorities to hold airmen accountable. 

Collectively, we will pursue enhancement to the UCMJ, as warranted. 

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FY18AF/A1 HASC MILPERS POSTURE STATEMENT 

WHERE WE ARE GOING 

Our human capital challenges are significant, but I am confident we will overcome them and 

continue to provide the world's most capable Air Force. To take the next steps into the future, 

we built a comprehensive human capital strategy to deliberately manage and execute the 

interdependent processes of our talent management system to include talent planning, 

acquisition, development and utilization, evaluation, compensation and retention, and transition. 

Our talent management strategy will allow us to best leverage available talent, maximize 

efficiencies, and increase human performance to produce Joint warfighters and Air Force leaders 

for today and tomorrow. Our talent management strategy will synchronize Total Force solutions 

across the Regular Air Force, Guard, and Reserve components for our officers, enlisted and 

civilian Airmen. 

Air Force Talent Management Life Cycle 

Talent Planning; 

Our workforce planning is based on national, defense, and Air Force strategies. It drives our 

end-strength requirement and demand signal for talent acquisition and retention. More 

specifically, we are ensuring our human capital requirements arc sized properly though this 

lifecycle to include looking at our training pipeline accounts (STP), incorporating process 

improvements in the requirements determination process, and ensuring our Airmen arc able to 

focus on their primary duties. To ensure this focus, we are currently working initiatives to 

eliminate additional duties and provide more robust commander support staffs within squadrons. 

Across our lines of effort for talent planning, we apply agility and inclusion, ensure our IT 

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FY18AF/A1 HASC MILPERS POSTURE STATEMENT 

systems are capable, account tor opportunities lor Total Force Integration, and develop 

performance metrics. 

Talent Acgujsitjon: 

The Air Force is experiencing mission growth, a resource-constrained environment, an 

improving economy, and a rapidly changing global environment. As an all-volunteer f(Jrce, less 

than I% of Americans will raise their hand to answer the call to support and defend the Nation 

against all enemies. Jt is imperative our Air Force be seen as an attractive employer to the 

nation's best prospects. To do so, we must appeal to Americans from across our broad and 

diverse society. We need to provide opportunities to fulfill their dreams while they effectively 

contribute to the Air Force mission. Success in this endeavor rests squarely upon providing the 

right Airmen~who are sufficiently developed, equipped, and organized~to defend national 

interests through airpower. To find the right Ainnen, marketing and advertising are essential to 

ensure our Air Force brand is in the marketplace. We need to reach not only those that 

traditionally have a propensity to serve, but also to reach populations that might not be 

considering service in the Air Force today. This means increased investment in marketing and 

advertising, increases in recmiting manpower, investments in infrastructure, and changes to 

policies and processes. This is particularly important as we surge to grow our active force. In 

the last two years, we maximized our recruiting and accession enterprise bringing in more than 

JOK non-prior service enlisted Airmen and another 4.5K plus officers. To help sustain this 

workload, we added 75 recruiters in FY16 and FY17 and plan to add another 130 or so in FY18 

and beyond. 

A successful recruiting program requires an assortment of recruiting tools. We are working to 

supply our recruiters with the latest technology that will allow them to successfully engage with 

and recruit the best talent for service in the Air Force. 

The Air Force also knows we must capitalize on the strategic, asymmetric advantage of a diverse 

force. It is a national security imperative that we leverage the full spectrum of talent our Nation 

has to offer. No other Nation can match our natural diversity. We must skillfully apply our 

diverse human capital to create a strategic military advantage. In 2016, 40 percent of new 

enlisted Airmen came from just six states (California, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania and 

Texas). This data is indicative of a need to cast a wider net in our recruiting efforts. 

To widen our aperture of potential recruits, we began examining our accessions policies. We 

have already made changes to our tattoo policy and medical accession waivers for Eczema, 

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and Asthma. Our recruiters reported that nearly half of 

all recruits had tattoos of which approximately 18% required a review to meet our previous 

tattoo policy. Our new policy eliminates a specific percentage of the body where tattoos may 

exist while restricting tattoos above the neck or on the hands. Additionally, in conjunction with 

our Surgeon General, we streamlined the waiver processes for our three biggest medical 

disqualifiers~Eczema, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and Asthma. Each of these 

policy changes increases our ability to attract and assess the most talented and qualified Airn1en 

our country has to offer. 

As emerging threats to our data and security systems increase, the demand signal for an 

experienced cyber workforce to protect our Air Force networks and information systems has 

never been higher. To address these concerns, we have taken successful steps to robust our 

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FY18AF/A1 HASC MILPERS POSTURE STATEMENT 

civilian cyber force. ln August 2015, the Department of Defense issued DoD Directive 8140.0 l 

which defined the cyber workforce. This cyber workforce includes information technology 

specialists, cybersecurity, and cyber-focused intelligence functions. From the DoD definition, 

our Air Force Cybcr and Intelligence Functional Leaders have identified more than 800 civilian 

mission critical cyber positions. The Air Force also stood up a special talent management team 

of recruiters to actively recruit for and fill these positions. We are using a variety of hiring 

tlexibilities and recruitment incentives to grow our new civilian cyber workforce. Building and 

maintaining ready forces and capabilities to conduct cyberspace operations is a high priority and 

strategic goal of the Air Force. 

Finally, the Air Force launched a pilot to test a Total Force Outreach and Recruiting Capability. 

This pilot focuses on data sharing, inter-operable IT systems, and lead generation among our 

active military, air reserve component, and civilian recruiting teams. The ability to address 

potential recruits in a one-stop manner while being able to share data among the complete Total 

force team allows the Air force to leverage resources and increase recruiting success across all 

areas. 

Our recruiting budget includes funding for day-to-day operations, personnel costs and 

advcttising activities necessary to the successful accomplishment of the recruiting mission. 

Funding for these areas is critical as we continue our growth. Our recruiters are normally the 

first interaction the general public has with the military. A fully funded program is critical to our 

ability to sustain our All-Volunteer Force and enable the Air Force to be "Always There." 

Talent Deyelopment and llti!ization 

Once we acquire talented Airmen, talent development and utilization ensures we train, educate, 

and effectively use those skill sets to produce capabilities needed for the joint fight. Air Force 

capabilities are fundamental to the success of current and future joint military campaigns. It is 

imperative we build joint leaders with the tools, experience, and training to both support and lead 

joint teams. We must prepare our Airmen now for their role in a complex, rapidly evolving 

future tight across multiple domains. Through a deliberate evolution, we must be ready to 

operate in a transforming security environment by developing leaders and structures that 

consistently think, plan, tight, and lead in a joint environment. 

We must continue to build an inclusive culture in our service, so we may leverage the broadest 

possible set of human resources to produce the maximum number of strategic options in our 

operations. We are implementing several initiatives in the coming months to continue our work 

in breaking down barriers for talented Ainnen. The use of diverse slates will provide hiring 

authorities with better visibility of the talent they have available from which to fill key positions. 

Career field managers will actively encourage female and minority Airmen to pursue operational 

career fields where they are currently underrepresented. Female Airmen will have more time to 

make a decision on whether they can balance the responsibilities of an Air Force career and 

motherhood before requesting separation. Implementing unconscious bias training at key times 

will help our leaders understand such bias can lead to flawed talent management decisions and 

will give them tools for mitigating their own biases. 

Our Force Development structure provides a governance body for functional communities to 

determine career field management and development practices. Our Functional Development 

Teams are a vital component of the Force Development Structure. They are charged with 

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FY18AF/A1 HASC MILPERS POSTURE STATEMENT 

deliberately developing the right Airmen:--both military and civilian-to lead the Air Force and 

counter complex, global challenges. We will continue to develop Airmen who can work across 

the whole of government and who have the right skills and experience necessary for joint and 

multi-domain operations. We are increasing opportunities to develop these key skill sets by 

utilizing joint and inter-agency assignments and rotations. The Development Teams have made 

great strides in developing our Airmen with a focus on 3 lines of effort: (I) continued 

standardization of the processes across functional communities; (2) continued identification and 

removal of barriers that inhibit Airmen from developmental opportunities; and (3) strategic focus 

on education vectoring, commander selection, and development opportunities. 

In an effort to better connect Airn1en to mentoring and career management resources, we rolled 

out MyVector last year. MyVector is a web-based application that supports mentoring, 

development and career management across the Total Force. This evolving IT platform 

underpins Ioree development and mentoring eftorts for all Airmen and allows our Airmen to be 

actively involved in their career development process. Currently, more than 160K Total Force 

Aitmen and civilians are registered on My Vector and greater than 15K Airmen have matched 

mentoring connections. 

In August of20 16, the Headquarters Air Force Deputy Chief of Stafffor Manpower, Personnel 

and Services initiated the Talent Management Innovation Cell (TMIC). The TMIC is comprised 

of a small full-time staff and is augmented by a cross-functional team of action officers from 

across the Air Stafi The TMIC tocuses primarily on opportunities to make rapid and impactful 

changes congruent with strategic objectives. The team has evaluated numerous ideas and is 

rapidly testing and fielding several capabilities to improve the way we execute a>signments. The 

system currently being tested focuses on increasing transparency and patiicipation among our 

Airmen as well a'> the gaining commanders and hiring officials. We are also exploring tandem 

applications of this system with our ability to offer incentives such as guaranteed assignments, 

training, stability and monetary incentives. The intent is to produce better assignment matches 

and reduce the separations often associated with filling less desirable assignments. 

The TMTC team has also tested changes that reduce administrative burdens associated with 

officer promotion processes without compromising the thoroughness, quality, and equity 

associated with our promotion process. Once fully implemented, we believe this change could 

save upwm·ds of 60K man-hours each year and fmiher reduces the administrative workload at the 

Wing and Squadron levels. 

Talent Evaluation: 

Talent evaluation is used as an equitable and repeatable method to capture and measure 

perfonnance. Effective evaluation allows the Air Force to leverage and reward high 

performance and improve or separate low or unsatisfactory performance. 

In 2015 and 2016, we launched a full overhaul of our enlisted evaluation system to ensure 

perfotmance could be delineated, recognized, and rewarded when evaluating or promoting 

enlisted personnel. The system places job and mission related perfmmance at the forefront and 

is supported by a comprehensive feedback system. This foundation provides evaluators a solid 

mechanism to establish expectations, develop and support their Airmen, and relay how well 

expectations m·e being met. The feedback is conducted utilizing Ainnat1 Comprehensive 

Assessments and is directly tied to the formal evaluations conducted annually. The evaluations 

9 
87 

FY18AF/A1 HASC MILPERS POSTURE STATEMENT 

also provide commanders a tool to assign a promotion recommendation to all eligible Airmen 

under their purview. This promotion recommendation is based heavily on performance. As 

designed, our results show those receiving higher promotion recommendations are getting 

promoted at higher rates. We have now spent nearly two full years under the new system and we 

believe it has incentivized improved performance and talent evaluation in our enlisted force. 

Another key function of the enlisted evaluation system is the use of a future roles function, 

which allows commanders to provide recommendations for future roles, positions and duties 

where the Airman should serve in next. It is our intent in the near future to use this data to 

develop a pool for filling key developmental and key leadership positions. 

The current Officer Evaluation System (OES) has served us well and has helped to produce, 

grow, and retain strong Air Force leadership. However, it is a dated system that has not kept up 

with current capabilities, workload, and the needs of our Ainnen. Therefore, we are working to 

develop a system that will produce even stronger otlicers, a greater retention rate, and 

incorporate current technology. The OES system will become a streamlined process and 

improve all aspects of our force. There are several OES initiatives underway--including 

evaluating, streamlining and reducing the workload associated with developing promotion 

recommendation fonns for our officers along with analyzing ways to improve our promotion 

boards, officer performance reports, and stratifications. 

For our civilian force, the Air Force successfully transitioned approximately 80K employees to 

the New Beginnings Defense Performance Management and Appraisal Program (DPMAP) on I 

April2017. We expect another 40K to transition under DPMAP between June-September 2017. 

We welcome this comprehensive and transparent multi-level perfonnance management system 

that links performance expectations with organizational goals and missions. DPMAP provides 

for regular on-going feedback and allows meaningful distinctions in performance. It moves the 

majority of Air Force civilians from a 2-level pass/fail rating pattern to a 3-lcvel rating pattern 

with the ability to rate performance elements as "Outstanding" and thus provide civilians 

meaningful distinctions in their performance. This shift in focus on communication and 

distinctions in pertonnance allows the Air Force to fully realize a culture that embraces and 

supports a high-performing workforce. Additionally, DPMAP emphasizes the importance of 

employee engagement and places increased emphasis on leadership behaviors and supervisory 

responsibilities in an effective performance management system. 

Talent Comoensation and Retention: 

Talent planning, acquisition, and evaluation are factors in compensation and retention strategies. 

Our focus is to align compensation to incentivize retention of required talent while supporting 

transition of talent excess to current or future needs. 

To support this effort, we look forward to conducting a thorough assessment of compensation to 

ensure the most effective and efficient use of taxpayer dollars. We must also always be 

cognizant of the special demands and requirements of military service. Any compensation 

package implemented must provide the necessary incentives to recruit and retain the talent the 

Air Force needs to remain the premier fighting force it is today. 

Air Foree bonus and pay incentive programs are a critical element in enabling the retention of 

our most highly trained and experienced Airmen. These Airmen are required to execute ongoing 

operations the Air Force participates in every day. These programs arc particularly important as 

10 
88 

FY18AF/A1 HASC MILPERS POSTURE STATEMENT 

we continue to grow the force and add new, inexperienced Ainncn. Special and Incentive (S&l) 

pays are one of our most flexible and responsive force management tools. Accordingly, our 

FY18 budget includes approximately $lB in S&l pays, which includes $281.6M in Selective 

Reenlistment Bonuses, $8.8M in Critical Skills Retention Bonuses and $1 Ol.36M in Aviation 

Bonus. The Air Force will use these retention bonuses, along with the full suite of S&I pays, to 

deliberately shape the force with a focus on maintaining the number of Airmen needed in some 

of our most critical specialties. Officer retention challenges exist for maintenance, special 

operators, intelligence, contracting, select health professionals, and pilots-especially fighter 

pilots. For the enlisted force, specialties facing retention challenges include cyber defense, 

battlefield ainnen, intelligence, explosive ordnance disposal and select nuclear enterprise 

specialties. 

The Air Force appreciates the support we received in raising the annual cap authorized for the 

Aviation Bonus in the FY17 NDAA to $35K per year. The Air Force developed a business case 

model that on an annual basis factors manning levels ( cun·ent and trend), retention levels (current 

and trend), time line for generating replacements, and costs to train and generate replacements. 

This model allows us to target the areas of greatest need and ensure effective use of these 

resources. We will review the success of the current program and based upon the findings will 

determine the need to request Congressional support for additional authority. 

One outlier [want to address is our Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) pilots-specifically, our 

enlisted RPA pilots. First, 1 am proud to announce the first three enlisted RPA pilots graduated 

on May 51

h and are headed to their next training to fly the Global Hawk. While these personnel 

will not be eligible lor a bonus until the expiration of their initial pilot commitment in 2023, we 

are determining the bonus level needed for all RPA pilots to ensure equitable treatment of all. 

In addition to monetary compensation, the Air Force is implementing many non-monetary efforts 

to improve the quality of life and quality of service for our Ainnen. We reduced additional 

duties, removed non-mission-essential training courses and outsourced select routine 

administrative tasks where possible. These efforts allow our Airmen to better focus on their 

primary duty. The Chief of Staff of the Air Force chartered a team to examine actions the Air 

Force can take to improve readiness, effectiveness and morale across the Total Force. The team 

is in the process of visiting 23 locations to identity and disseminate best practices, remove 

unnecessary impediments, and ensure the right authorities and responsibilities are at the right 

levels. This effort has already impacted enlisted professional military education and brought 

about ancillary training reductions. Additionally, the team is looking at how to improve 

preparation and support for squadron leadership teams in all of their mission and force 

development responsibilities, as well as examining how squadrons arc organized and resourccd 

tor their missions. 

Talent Transition; 

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89 

FY18AF/A1 HASC MILPERS POSTURE STATEMENT 

Finally, when time or circumstance warrants our Airmen to transition out of the Air Force, we 

will be prepared to facilitate that transition to another Total Force component or to life as a 

retiree or veteran-to include support for post-service care for Wounded Warriors, retirees, and 

veterans. 

The Air Force Wounded Warrior Program orchestrates a comprehensive continuum of care to 

meet the non-medical needs of wounded, ill, and injured Airmen. Our focus is caring for every 

seriously or very seriously ill or injured Airman and their families to meet personal and 

professional needs. Helping our Airmen understand and adapt to their future, regardless oftheir 

medical condition, is a key principle of our efforts. We refined our regional adaptive sports 

events to include strengthening tools to enhance employability and their skills as peer-to-peer 

mentors. We also now have activities for caregivers. As we look to the future, we recognize we 

have a long way to go in understanding and meeting the needs of our Ai1men with invisible 

wounds. We will continue seek resources for and implement solutions as we strengthen our 

continuum of care. 

Data shows approximately 3 out of 4 Airmen separate before 20 years of service-leaving with 

no retirement plan. The Air Force, as part of a comprehensive DoD effort, is educating our 

Airmen about the new Blended Retirement System prior to its initiation and the beginning of the 

opt-in election period in 2018. Our 350K-400K Total Force eligible Airmen have a variety of 

opportunities, to include face-to-face counseling, to learn about the new retirement system. We 

me confident our Airmen are receiving the information they need to make the right decision lor 

themselves and their families based upon their personal circumstances. Onr Personal Financial 

Managers (PFMs) at Ainnan and Family Readiness Centers are in the initial phase of assisting 

our Airmen and we are adding 99 more PFMs across the Air Force to augment our financial 

education effort. Finally, to better gauge the potential impact of the implementation of the new 

system, we now include questions on the new retirement system in our exit and retention 

surveys. This will enable us in the luture to assess the program to better intonn execution and 

implementation. 

As a final point, in an effort to increase agility across our talent transition programs, the Air 

Force is using the authority granted for the Career Intermission Program (ClP). The intent of the 

program is to keep top perfonners and talented Airmen rather than lose them to premature 

separation. Upon return, we expect those Airmen will bring greater experience, education, 

knowledge, commitment and passion to their career. Since CYI4, 87 Ailmen have entered CIP. 

The key to the success ofCIP is an Airman's seamless return to active duty. Since program 

inception, fourteen Airmen returned to duty and we are actively monitoring their progress to 

assess effectiveness. We are executing our CY17 program using two six week application 

windows to provide greater flexibility for our Ainnen. We will continue this trend in CY 18, 

providing even more flexibility by expanding the application window to three annually. While 

we continue to evaluate the CIP, we are appreciative of the additional authority provided by 

Congress in the FY16 NOAA. In 2016, the Air Force removed the limit on the number of 

pmticipants since Congress lifted the previous restriction of 20 officer and 20 enlisted 

participants. 

CONCLUSION 

The demand for air, space and cyber capabilities will only grow in the future. Resilient, ready 

and trained Ai1men are the foundation of these missions. America's Airmen must be ready to 

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FY18AF/A1 HASC MILPERS POSTURE STATEMENT 

fight alongside the Army, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard-the joint military team-to meet 

national security obligations. In every mission, in every domain, and in every location ... Airmen 

are essential to our nation's success. Your continued support for personnel authorities enabling 

effective talent management is essential to the Air Force meeting strategic demands now and into 

the future. 

13 
91 

Lieutenant General Gina M. Grosso 

Lt. Gen. Gina M. Grosso is the Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower, Personnel and 

Services, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. General Grosso serves as the 

senior Air Force officer responsible for comprehensive plans and policies covering all life 

cycles of military and civilian personnel management, which includes military and civilian 

end strength management, education and training, compensation, resource allocation, and 

the worldwide U.S. Air Force services program. 

General Grosso entered the Air Force in 1986 as a Reserve Officer Training Corps 

distinguished graduate from Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She 

has held several command and statf positions throughout her career. As a staff officer, she 

served as an operations analyst, personnel programs analyst, Air Staff and Office of the 

Secretary of Defense action officer, Major Command Director of Manpower and 

Personnel, Director of' the Air Force Colonel Management Office, Director, Manpower, 

Organization and Resources, and Director of Force Management Policy. Her command 

tours include a Headquarters Squadron Section, Military Personnel Flight, Mission Support 

Squadron, command of the Air Force's sole Basic Military Training Group, and as Joint 

Base and 87th Air Base Wing commander at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, NJ. Prior 

to her current assignment, she was the Director of the Air Force Sexual Assault Prevention 

and Response (SAPR), Office of the Vice Chief of Staff, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, 

Washington, D.C. 

EDUCATION 

1986 Bachelor of Science, Applied Mathematics and Industrial Management, Camcgic-Mcllon 

University, Pittsburgh, Pa. 

1992 Master's degree in business administration, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Va. 

1993 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Ala. 

1997 Air Command and Staff College, Seminar 

1999 Master's degree in national security and strategic studies, Naval Command and Staff College, 

Newport, R.I. 

2000 Air War College, Seminar 

2004 Fellow, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University, Boston, Mass. 

ASSIGNMENTS 

1. October 1986 - October 1988, Operations Analyst, followed by Commander, Headquarters 

Squadron Section, 554th Range Group, Nellis AFB, Nev. 

2. November 1988- Aprill992, Personnel Programs and Force Programs Analyst, Deputy Chief of 

Staff, Personnel, Headquarters Tactical Air Command, Langley AFB, Va. 

3. May 1992 - May 1993, Executive Officer, Directorate of Personnel, Headquarters Air Combat 

Command, Langley AFB, Va. 

4. May 1993 -July 1993, Student, Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Ala. 

5. August 1993 -May 1995, Commander, Military Personnel Flight, 6th Mission Support 

Squadron, Mac Dill AFB, Fla. 

6. June 1995 -January 1997, Chief, Personnel Policy, followed by Deputy Chief, Support Division, 

Air Force Colonel Matters Office, Pentagon, Washington D.C. 

7. January 1997- July 1998, Member, Chief of Staff of the Air Force Operations Group, 

Headquarters Air Force, Pentagon, Washington D.C. 

8. July 1998- July 1999, Student, Naval Command and Staff College, Newport, R.I. 

9. July 1999 - July 200 I, Commander, 51st Mission Support Squadron, Osan Air Base, South 

Korea 

I 0. July 200 l -May 2002, Assistant Director, Enlisted Plans and Policy, Office of the Secretary of 

Defense, the Pentagon, Washington D.C. 
92 

II. May 2002- July 2003, Military Assistant, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Military 

Personnel Policy, Pentagon, Washington D.C. 

12. July 2003 -July 2004, Fellow, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, llarvard 

University, Boston, Mass. 

13. July 2004- July 2006, Commander, 737th Training Group, Lackland AFB, Texas 

14. July 2006- July 2007, Director, Manpower and Personnel, Headquarters Pacific Air Forces, 

Hickam AFB, Hawaii 

15. July 2007- March 2009, Director, Air Force Colonels Management Office, the Pentagon, 

Washington D.C. 

16. March 2009 -June 2011, Commander, Joint Base and 87th Air Base Wing, Joint Base 

McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. 

17. June 2011 -August 2012, Director, Manpower, Organization and Resources, the Pentagon, 

Washington D.C. 

18. August 20 12 - January 2014, Director, Force Management Policy, the Pentagon, Washington 

D.C. 

19. February 2014- October 2015, Director, Air Force Sexual Assault Prevention and Response 

Office, Office of the Vice Chief of Staff, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. 

20. October 2015 - present, Deputy Chief of Staff. Manpower, Personnel and Services, 

Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington D.C. 

SUMMARY OF JOINT ASSIGNMENTS 

1. July 2001 -May 2002, Assistant Director, Enlisted Plans and Policy, Office of the Secretary of 

Defense, Pentagon, Washington D.C., as a lieutenant colonel 

2. May 2002- July 2003, Military Assistant, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Military 

Personnel Policy, Pentagon, Washington D.C., as a lieutenant colonel 

3. March 2009- June 2011, Commander, Joint Base and 87th Air Base Wing, Joint Base McGuirenix-Lakehurst, N.J., as a colonel and brigadier general 

MAJOR A WARDS AND DECORATIONS 

Defense Superior Service Medal 

Legion of Merit with two oak leaf cluster 

Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters 

Army Commendation Medal 

Air Force Commendation Medal 

Joint Service Achievement Medal 

Air Force Achievement Medal with one oak leaf cluster 

Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with one oak leaf cluster 

Air Force Organizational Excellence Award with three oak leaf clusters 

National Defense Service Medal with bronze star 

Global War on Terrorism Medal 

Korean Detense Service Medal 

Humanitarian Service Medal 

OTHER ACHIEVMENTS 

Tactical Air Command, Deputy Chief of Staff, Personnel, 1990 CGO of the Year 

Tactical Air Command, 1991 Junior Personnel Manager of the Year 

Distinguished Graduate, Squadron Officer School, 199 3 

6th Air Base Wing Lance P, Sijan Leadership Award, Junior Officer Category for 1995 

Headquarters Air Force, Senior Personnel Manager of the Year for 1996 

EFFECTIVE: DATES OF PROMOTION 

Second Lieutenant Oct. 2, 1986 

First Lieutenant July 17, 1988 

Captain July 17, 1990 

Major Aug. 1. 1996 

Lieutenant Colonel July 1, 1999 
93 

Colonel Aug. 1. 2003 

Brigadier General April I, 2011 

Major General July 24, 2014 

Lieutenant General Oct 15, 2015 

(Current as of October 2015) 

WITNESS RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS ASKED DURING 

THE HEARING 

MAY 17, 2017 

(97) 

RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MR. COFFMAN 

General MCCONVILLE. Applicants are not allowed to access into the Army unless 

they are deemed physically qualified by the Military Entrance Processing Command 

Chief Medical Officer. In addition to confirming that applicants are medically qualified to succeed in training, the Army instituted the Occupational Physical Assessment Test (OPAT) in 2017 to predict a recruit’s aptitude for performing physical 

tasks in the Army’s most physically demanding occupations. Applicants are contracted for specialties only when their performance on the OPAT indicates they will 

succeed. [See page 23.] 

General MCCONVILLE. The Army has 11,932 Soldiers serving as recruiters in the 

Regular Army, Army Reserve and Army National Guard. [See page 23.] 

Admiral BURKE. Navy currently has a recruiting cadre of 6,096 Sailors, composed 

of 4,855 production recruiters and 1,241 support and command staff. [See page 23.] 

General BRILAKIS. The Marine Corps has historically maintained a low rate of unintended attrition outside of our total force model compared to the other services. 

Approximately 7% of enlisted Marines do not complete boot camp and 13% do not 

complete their initial contract for a variety of reasons to include medical, misconduct, and performance. Currently, the average annual non EAS attrition rate is 

4.5% of the total enlisted force. [See page 24.] 

General GROSSO. 

Active Duty First Term Enlistment Category Involuntary Discharges—from FY 2012 thru FY 2017 

FY # First Term Inventory # First Term Involuntary 

Discharges % 

2012 121,671 1,410 1.2 

2013 123,528 1,250 1.0 

2014 120,595 1,333 1.1 

2015 121,960 1,060 0.9 

2016 130,108 976 0.8 

2017 138,349 1,015 0.7 

[See page 24.] 

General GROSSO. Medical Screening—Air Force recruiters do a good job of asking 

questions during the interview process to try and identify any previous medical concerns, unfortunately potential trainees have the ability not to disclose medical conditions and/or may not know they have a medical condition. Our MEPS Medical staff 

does a good job during the physical to identify disqualifying conditions, etc., but 

again, potential trainees do not always disclose ailments. Then when the trainee arrives in the training environment, some of those ailments then become more apparent due to additional physical activity, added stresses, etc. or trainees then start 

identifying these ‘‘hidden’’ issues as a way to drop out because of the stress of Basic 

Military Training. We also have some trainees that make it beyond their 180-day 

mark and then start bringing attention to known or unknown medical conditions. 

We also ensure trainees meet the ‘‘additional’’ Air Force Specialty Code (AFSC) requirements some career fields have to enter that specialty, flight physical, etc. 

Occupational Screening—In reference to some of our higher attrition career fields 

(e.g. Explosive Ordinance Disposal, Pararescue, SERE, and TACP), we provide fact 

sheets which are required to be understood and signed by applicants in conjunction 

with being contracted for those positions. Our Battlefield Airmen/Combat Support 

(BA/CS) career fields utilize contracted developers who conduct the physical agility 
98 

and stamina qualification tests, as well as provide ongoing development until the 

applicant leaves for Basic Military Training. We utilize the Air Force Enlisted Classification Directory and additional manual Air Force Specialty Code qualification 

checks for all of our career fields. We also have initiated the AF–WIN pilot which 

is a career self-exploration tool that gives Air Force recruits an opportunity to identify ‘‘good fit’’ enlisted Air Force careers based on a series of simple job interest 

questions. [See page 24.] 

RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MS. SPEIER 

General MCCONVILLE. 1. How much was spent on marketing and advertising overall in FY16: $189.8M 

2. How much was spent on specific subset areas of marketing: 

—Sports marketing: $10.37M 

—Non-sports sponsorship in FY16: $3.15M (Education, Diversity) 

—Advertising (media (broadcast and on-line)): $71,734,488 

3. How much was spent on fly-overs in FY16: $0.00 

[See page 25.] 

General MCCONVILLE. The Army is very interested in reducing attrition, both for 

readiness and resourcing reasons. This is an area that we monitor closely. It is essential to screen recruits, before they ever sign a contract or ship to training. Current screening tools are very useful, but we still lose 12% of recruits while they are 

in initial entry training. The Army is testing the redesigned Tailored Adaptive Personality Assessment System (TAPAS), a non-cognitive assessment which helps predict the assimilation to Army life, job satisfaction, and risk of attrition to include 

misconduct attrition. Additionally in 2017, the Army implemented the Occupational 

Physical Assessment Test (OPAT) for all new recruits. This assessment is used to 

determine if a recruit will be able to meet the physical requirements of a particular 

MOS. Screening for physical aptitude in the most demanding combat arms occupations will improve MOS training and reduce injury related attrition. Initial results 

already show a decrease in attrition over the first six months of implementation. 

The Army would like to see continued Congressional support of TAPAS and OPAT 

to reduce attrition now and in the future. [See page 26.] 

Admiral BURKE. Navy spent $71.4 million for Marketing and Advertising in fiscal 

year (FY) 2016. Navy spent $5.1 million on direct sports marketing and advertising 

in FY2016. Additionally, we purchased cable and broadcast media packages that run 

ads on various television networks. In FY2016, 28 percent of the ads were run on 

sports networks at a cost of $9.1 million. Approximately $500 thousand was spent 

to execute the Department of Defense-regulated maximum of 40 flyovers in FY2016 

(nearly all in support of sporting events). In addition to sponsorship of diversity and 

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) organizations, Navy 

continues to sponsor the ESPN Winter and Summer X-Games, the Southern Heritage Classic, and the Army-Navy football game. [See page 25.] 

Admiral BURKE. Navy has entered a ‘‘War for Talent’’ and we are working to pull 

every available force management lever to maximize retention and reduce attrition 

of highly skilled Sailors. Forthcoming initiatives include: 

• expanding high-year tenure length-of-service gates for Sailors in pay grades E– 

3 through E–6, which will allow them to remain in the Navy longer and will 

provide them with additional advancement opportunities. 

• initiating several pilot programs at Recruit Training Command to improve the 

physical and mental fitness of Sailors during initial recruit training. On January 1, 2018, we will institute a minimum physical fitness standard that recruits 

must meet before beginning training. 

• working with Military Entrance Processing Command (MEPS) to reduce attrition at Recruit Training Command, by streamlining pre-service identification of 

disqualifying medical conditions that typically arise during initial recruit training. 

• revising our Physical Readiness Program separation policy by eliminating the 

requirement to process Sailors for separation due to Physical Fitness Assessment (PFA) failures. Under the revised policy, enlisted Sailors will be retained 

for the duration of their enlistment contract, and officers will be retained 

through completion of their minimum service requirement. 

Following PFA failure, Sailors will enroll in a Fitness Enhancement Program that 

will offer focused care and the opportunity to work towards compliance with fitness 

standards and eligibility for continued career progression. Each year, Navy recruits, 

processes, and trains, nearly 40,000 Sailors, and sends that same number home. 

Even if budgets were unlimited, this turnover is inefficient, in terms of cost and 
99 

time. We must continue to find better ways to retain, and repurpose, the talent in 

which we have already invested, and avoid incentivizing Sailors to walk out the 

door. [See page 26.] 

General BRILAKIS. Per your request, the Marine Corps’ recruitment advertising program requirement exceeds $100 million annually. 

Total Marine Corps Recruiting Command Marketing and Advertising spend in FY16 was $79.7 million. Total sports advertising and marketing spend: $15,419,357 

Total sports advertising and marketing percentage of spend: 19.35% 

Advertising alone (Traditional media: scale media/TV, digital, mobile, et al) spend for FY16: $12,558,725 Advertising percentage: 15.76% 

The Advertising program’s key investments and measurable objectives include: 

1. Achieving DOD’s JAMRS-validated, advertising industry baseline levels of 

awareness. Specifically, exposing 50% of our prospect audience, three times quarterly, to our advertisements via scale TV/media investments. This accounts for approximately 50% of the Marine Corps’ advertising program spent. Beyond setting 

the conditions for long-term mission effectiveness, scale TV/media spent has proven 

to directly impact the amount of qualified leads and contracts the program delivers 

and influences annually. 

2. Delivering more than 20% of the command’s net new contracts via lead generation efforts. The three primary drivers of our lead generation efforts are the web 

(which includes Marines.com), paid search, and direct mail. 

3. Delivering on-time essential recruiter support. Examples include (but are not 

limited to) contracting for lead generating enhanced area canvassing events that put 

our recruiters face-to-face with the prospect market in communities across the nation. adequate collateral sales material to facilitate informed discussions with prospects and influencers, as well as promotional and incentive items intended to drive 

contracting and advocacy for the Marine Corps. 

Marketing spent (engagement activities with prospect youth that are face-to-face) for FY16: $2,860,632 

Marketing percentage: 3.59% 

National-level spend: $821,169 

National percentage: 1.03% 

Region/District-level spend: $2,039,463 

Region/District percentage: 2.56% 

[See page 25.] 

General BRILAKIS. The Marine Corps has historically maintained a low rate of unintended attrition outside of our total force model compared to the other services. 

Approximately 7% of enlisted Marines do not complete boot camp and 13% do not 

complete their initial contract for a variety of reasons to include medical, misconduct, and performance. Currently, the average annual non EAS attrition rate is 

4.5% of the total enlisted force. [See page 26.] 

General GROSSO. The AF Recruiting Service Commander issued guidance severely 

restricting AF recruiting units from executing contracts with professional sporting 

teams/organizations that might present the appearance of impropriety or misuse of 

government funds. As a result, AFRS did not execute any marketing or advertising 

with professional sporting organizations (NFL, MLB, NBA, MLS, etc.) in FY16. 

In FY16 HQ AFRS did execute five contracts that could be considered sports related. Those contracts totaled $2,371,700. 

a. Formula Drift Racing—$201,200 

b. International Series of Champions snowmobile racing—$178,000 

c. Steve Scheuring Speed Sports snowmobile racing—$127,500 

d. For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology Robotics competition—$275,000 

e. Richard Petty Motorsports—$1,590,000 

In FY16, AFRS spent $68.4M on marketing and advertising for recruiting purposes broken down as follows: 

Category of Expense Amount Description 

Recruiter Support Systems $15.2M Web sites, data mgmt, lead collection, 1–800#, 

promo items 

Advertising $18.7M On-line ads, Direct Mail, Social Media, Theater ads, print ads 

Television $17.9M Paid TV advertising 

Public Engagement Events $16.6M Partnerships*, mobile tours, professional convention space 

Total $68.4M 

During fiscal year 2016, Air Force units volunteered to provide aerial support at 

87 collegiate- and professional-level sporting events. Each flyover is incidental to a 

previously programed training mission and are flown in conjunction with training 

objectives, specifically time-over-target and low-level visual flight requirements. Be-
100 

cause of this, the flyover program is run at no additional cost to the government 

in accordance with 10 U.S.C. § 2012 (d). More information regarding flyovers and 

other community relations activities can be found in a September 2016 GAO report 

(GAO–16–794), titled ‘‘Community Relations DOD’s Approach for Using Resources 

Reflects Sound Management Principles’’ which can be found at http://www.gao.gov/ 

assets/680/679912.pdf. [See page 25.] 

General GROSSO. Basic Military Training attrition since 2012 averages approximately 6% per FY. So far this FY we have brought in 22,589 Active Duty Airmen 

and lost 1,107 through attrition (4.5%). The consistent top reasons for attrition from 

FY12–16 include medical discharge, mental health, fraudulent enlistment, drugs/ 

drug fraud, and marginal performance. All top five categories remained consistent 

in terms of percentages of actual trainee discharges from FY 16–17, we are seeing 

a real drop in total numbers that takes into account that we still have a full third 

of FY17 left. 

The Air Force changed the accession process earlier this year. We adjusted how 

we ask about pre-service drug use, focusing more on the type of drug and tendency 

for future use vice a hard number. Air Force Recruiting Service undertook a major 

program to educate their recruiters on the importance of having potential recruits 

be open and honest, and working waivers at the pre-accession level. Basic Military 

Training introduced a pilot program in FY17 in 2 of their training squadrons 

(through a grant with University of the Incarnate Word) to work with trainees and 

Physical Training Noncommissioned Officers to focus on preventative injury activities to lower attrition related to stress fractures and other exercise-related issues. 

The 559th Medical Group (associated with Basic Military Training) recently undertook a major study in FY17 (looking back at least 10 years) to look into why trainees were attriting as the result of mental health issues. Those efforts identified two 

key areas: (1) non-disclosure of prior to service mental health history; and (2) trainees using reports of suicidal ideations as a means to self-eliminate from Basic Military Training. As a result, recruiter training was modified to address prior-to-service mental health history and ongoing manpower studies to provide additional preventative support to trainees to reduce instrumental suicidality as a means of selfelimination. [See page 26.] 

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