Military Personnel: Oversight Framework and Evaluations Needed for DOD and the Coast Guard to Help Increase the Number of Female Officer Applicants
Published: 2015-11-13T00:00:00

Fast Facts:

Highlights:
section_title: Why GAO Did This Study
paragraphs: Since the end of the Second World War, the role of women in the military has been evolving. Changes to laws and DOD policies have either eliminated or clarified restrictions on women serving in the military. A 2011 Military Leadership Diversity Commission reported that women comprise more than 50 percent of the recruiting pool for the officer corps.
Public Law 113-291 included a provision for GAO to review the Armed Forces' outreach and recruitment efforts directed at women's representation in the officer corps, among other things. GAO evaluated the extent to which (1) accessions of women into the officer corps have increased, and DOD and the Coast Guard have determined resources and funding to increase the accessions of women into the officer corps and (2) DOD and the Coast Guard have initiatives and an oversight framework to increase the recruitment and accessions of female officers.
GAO analyzed fiscal years 2010-14 female officer accessions data, reviewed budget reports, distributed a questionnaire to offices responsible for the recruitment and accessions of female officers, and interviewed agency officials about their efforts.
section_title: What GAO Found
paragraphs: Department of Defense (DOD) and Coast Guard fiscal year 2010-14 data show an overall slight increase in female officer accessions rates (e.g. the number of female officer accessions during a period of time, expressed as a percentage of total accessions) for all of the Armed Forces, with the Coast Guard having the highest percentage increase. Female officer accession rates for the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force fluctuated from fiscal year 2010 through fiscal year 2014. The Marine Corps had slight increases from 7.6 percent to 11.8 percent.
DOD and the Coast Guard have not determined the resources and funding to increase accessions of women. DOD has requested $1.36 billion in general for recruiting and advertising in its fiscal year 2016 operation and maintenance budget request. However, DOD and the Coast Guard have not identified resources for all initiatives directed at the recruitment and accessions of female officers.
In response to GAO's questionnaire, DOD and the Coast Guard reported 10 initiatives specifically designed to increase the recruitment and accessions of female officers. For example, Coast Guard officials reported that U.S. Coast Guard Academy admissions officers visit all-female high schools to promote the opportunities available for women at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. However, DOD and the Coast Guard do not have an oversight framework for recruitment initiatives, to include program goals, performance measures, and resource allocation linked to program goals. One of the five Armed Forces has a goal related to the recruitment of women into the officer corps; however, the others do not. DOD and the Coast Guard also have not conducted evaluations of all 10 initiatives. Without an oversight framework and evaluations of initiatives, which can demonstrate that initiatives are achieving their intended purpose, DOD and the Coast Guard will be limited in identifying which initiatives are the most effective at increasing the recruitment and accessions of women, and in directing limited resources to the most effective initiatives.
section_title: What GAO Recommends
paragraphs: GAO recommends that DOD and the Coast Guard develop an oversight framework and conduct evaluations for initiatives. DOD concurred with the first recommendation and did not state whether it concurred with the second recommendation. The Department of Homeland Security concurred with both of the recommendations.

section_title: Letter
paragraphs: Since the end of the Second World War, the role of women in the military  has been evolving. Changes to laws and Department of Defense (DOD)  policies have either eliminated or clarified restrictions on women serving  in the military. For example, in 1975, Congress directed the secretaries of  the military departments to take action to ensure women’s eligibility for  appointment and admission to the three military service academies.  Similarly, the Coast Guard also first admitted women in 1976 as part of its  graduating class of 1980. More recently, on January 24, 2013, the  Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff  rescinded a 1994 rule that prevented women from serving in direct  ground-combat positions. The memorandum rescinding the rule directed  the military services to meet milestones for the full integration of women  into these positions by January 1, 2016. The Military Leadership  Diversity Commission reported in 2011 that although women comprise  more than 50 percent of the recruiting pool for the officer corps, women  are underrepresented across all of the services and accessions  sources—that is, in the military service academies; Officer Candidate  Schools and Officer Training School; the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps  (ROTC); and direct commissions for specialist officers in the medical,  chaplain, and legal corps.
In 2013, the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services  reported that outreach and recruitment of women for the officer corps is  critical to ensuring that the military has the strongest possible leaders.  DOD and Coast Guard officials stated that increasing the representation,  or the total number, of women is important and senior leadership in the  military services have expressed the intent to increase diversity in their  organizations, to include increasing the representation of women. For  example, in September 2014, the Secretary of the Navy stated that there  are not enough women in the Navy or the Marine Corps, and cited the  importance of a diverse force. In June 2014, the Secretary of the Air  Force released a memorandum establishing active duty officer applicant  pool goals, which are intended to reflect the nation’s diverse and eligible  population. In addition, in March 2013, the Commandant of the Marine  Corps issued a letter to Marine Corps leadership stating that it is  imperative for the Marine Corps to take a fresh approach to diversity to  attract, develop, and retain women officers. According to military service  academy officials, the service academies want to ensure they have a  diverse student population, and all have indicated a desire to increase the  representation of women.
Section 524(c) of the Carl Levin and Howard P. “Buck” McKeon National  Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 included a provision for  us to review the Armed Forces’ outreach and recruitment efforts directed  toward women’s representation in the officer corps. This report evaluates  the extent to which (1) accessions of women into the officer corps have  increased, and DOD and the Coast Guard have determined resources  and funding to increase the accessions of women into the officer corps  and (2) DOD and the Coast Guard have initiatives and an oversight  framework to increase the recruitment and accessions of women into the  officer corps.
For our first objective, we obtained and analyzed DOD and Coast Guard  officer corps accessions and representation data from the Defense  Manpower Data Center to identify trends in female officer accessions  from fiscal year 2010 through fiscal year 2014. We chose to review data  from the last 5 fiscal years to focus on current initiatives. We assessed  the reliability of the accessions and representation data by reviewing the  Defense Manpower Data Center’s methodology for collecting data and  conducting a review of the completeness of the data. We found the data  to be sufficiently reliable for the purposes of this report. To determine  whether DOD and the Coast Guard have identified resources and funding  dedicated to increase the accessions of women into the officer corps, we  obtained and reviewed budget justification material and identified  obligations for recruiting and advertising from fiscal year 2014,  appropriations from fiscal year 2015, and estimated budgets for fiscal  year 2016. In addition, we obtained recruiting and advertising  expenditures for women officers from DOD and the Coast Guard. We also  obtained information on resources and funding through a questionnaire  we developed and distributed to 19 offices in DOD and the Coast Guard  we identified in consultation with DOD and Coast Guard officials that  conduct recruiting and accessions of women into the officer corps. These  offices included military service academies, recruiting commands, and  service commands responsible for overseeing the ROTC, Officer  Candidate Schools/Officer Training School, and direct commissioning  programs. To identify these 19 offices, we reviewed DOD and Coast  Guard guidance and we discussed the services’ roles and responsibilities  related to recruitment and accessions with officials from each military  service, including the Coast Guard. In the questionnaire, we asked these  19 offices to identify resource and funding information for the initiatives  they are currently using to increase the accessions of women into the  officer corps. We assessed the reliability of the marketing budget and  expenditures reported by the U.S. Military Academy by sending a  questionnaire and interviewing academy officials. We found the data to be  sufficiently reliable for the purposes of this report.
For our second objective, we reviewed responses to our questionnaire  identifying initiatives the Armed Forces, including the Coast Guard, have  directed at increasing the recruitment and accessions of women into the  officer corps. We also assessed the extent to which DOD and the Coast  Guard have developed an oversight framework for these initiatives by  comparing their efforts against the key elements of an oversight  framework, which include establishing program goals and performance  measures and linking resource allocation to program goals. We also  interviewed DOD and Coast Guard officials to determine if there were  agency goals for recruitment and accessions of women into the officer  corps and if the reported initiatives were aligned with agency goals, if any.  We also assessed the extent to which DOD and the Coast Guard  evaluate their initiatives to ensure they are achieving their intended  purposes. A more detailed discussion of our scope and methodology is  provided in appendix I.
We conducted this performance audit from February 2015 to November  2015 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing  standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to  obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for  our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe  that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings  and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
subsections: section_title: Background
paragraphs: Officer candidates must complete education and military training  programs, some of which take up to 4 years, before they are  commissioned into the officer corps. The three federal accession  programs that produce the most officer commissions are (1) military  service academies; (2) ROTC; and (3) Officer Candidate School for the  Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps, and the Coast Guard or Officer  Training School for the Air Force.
Military service academies: The U.S. Military Academy, the U.S.
Naval Academy, the U.S. Air Force Academy, and the U.S. Coast  Guard Academy operate 4-year programs that provide successful  candidates with bachelor’s degrees and commissions as military  officers.
ROTC: The services’ respective ROTC units are located at civilian  colleges and universities throughout the United States, with some  academic institutions offering ROTC for more than one service.  Officer candidates enrolled in ROTC programs must meet all  graduation requirements of their academic institutions and complete  required education and military training to receive commissions as  officers, usually after 4 years. The Coast Guard does not have an  ROTC program.
Officer Candidate Schools/Officer Training School: These officer  commissioning programs are designed to augment the services’ other  commissioning programs. Because these programs focus only on  military training, they are short, ranging from 6 weeks (Marine Corps  candidates participate in the Naval Reserve Officers’ Training Corps)  to 17 weeks (Coast Guard).
Various offices within each military service, including the Coast Guard,  are responsible for recruiting for these commissioning programs. In  general, the military service academies recruit their own candidates and  the service recruiting commands recruit for the other accession sources.  Table 1 lists the office that primarily conducts recruiting for each major  accession source.
According to the 2011 Military Leadership Diversity Commission report,  the military can recruit from a pool of individuals using specific eligibility  requirements that can potentially present a barrier to service. According  to the report, those who wish to serve in the military must first meet  standards related to age, citizenship, number of dependents, financial  status, education level, aptitude, substance abuse, language skills, moral  conduct, height and weight, physical fitness, and medical qualifications.  Furthermore, commissioned officers must have a bachelor’s degree.  Together, these requirements define the eligible population from which  the services can recruit. According to the Military Leadership Diversity  Commission report and DOD officials, large portions of young people do  not meet these requirements and are not eligible to join the military. In  addition, according to a DOD Joint Advertising, Market Research and  Studies survey, fewer women than men have an interest in military  service and that may be due in part to women’s greater interests in  education and professional careers, which women often see as  incompatible with military service.
The general approach used by the services to meet their accession  needs has been to start with their service academies and ROTC  programs. When these programs are unable to meet a service’s needs for  newly commissioned officers, the service uses the Officer Candidate  Schools/Officer Training School to bridge the gap. Conversely, during  periods of downsizing, all of the commissioning sources may reduce their  numbers of officer candidates, but the Officer Candidate Schools/Officer  Training School provide the immediate means for achieving the  downsizing. Unlike the military service academies and ROTC programs  that require up to 4 years to produce an officer, the Officer Candidate  Schools/Officer Training School can quickly expand or diminish the size  of their candidate pools.
To various extents, these accession sources commission officers for both  the active and the reserve components, including the National Guard. For  example, the ROTC programs commission higher rates of officers for the  reserves and the National Guard than do the military service academies.  Additionally, the Air National Guard Academy of Military Science  commissions the majority of the Air National Guard’s officers. The Air  National Guard Academy of Military Science is similar to the Air Force  Officer Training School program and is a 6-week military training course.  In contrast, state level officer candidate school programs, which are not  included in this review, recruit and produce a significant portion of Army  National Guard officers. Other accession sources for the federal  components of the National Guard include ROTC, federal Officer  Candidate School, and direct commissioning programs.
Additionally, each service directly commissions officers with particular  professional skills—such as physicians, dentists, nurses, lawyers, and  chaplains—who do not in all cases attend the major commissioning  programs. The Coast Guard also has direct commissioning programs for  certain professions, such as aviators, engineers, lawyers, and physician  assistants. Each military service, including the Coast Guard, also offers  enlisted-to-officer commissioning programs that provide the enlisted  population with opportunities to earn commissions as officers. Figure 1  shows the overall distribution of DOD military officers by accession  source as of fiscal year 2012.
section_title: Accession Rates of Female Officers Have Slightly Increased, and DOD and the Coast Guard Have Not Determined Resources and Funding to Increase the Recruitment and Accessions of Female Officers
paragraphs: DOD and Coast Guard data from fiscal year 2010 through fiscal year  2014 show a slight percentage increase for female officer accessions.  Specifically, the Marine Corps and the Coast Guard increased the rate of  female officer accessions every year from fiscal year 2010 through 2014.  In contrast, female officer accession rates for the Army, the Navy, and the  Air Force fluctuated from fiscal year 2010 through fiscal year 2014, but  were higher in fiscal year 2014 than in fiscal year 2010. Additionally,  DOD and the Coast Guard have not determined resources and funding to  increase the recruitment and accessions of female officers.
subsections: section_title: Accession Rates of Women into the Officer Corps Have Slightly Increased
paragraphs: Female officer accession rates have increased from fiscal year 2010  through fiscal year 2014 for all of the Armed Forces, including the Coast  Guard. For example, the Marine Corps increased female officer  accessions by 4.2 percent from fiscal year 2010 through fiscal year 2014,  and the Coast Guard increased female officer accessions by a total of 6.4  percent. The Army increased female officer accessions by about 0.8  percent, the Air Force increased female officer accessions by about 0.4  percent, and the Navy increased female officer accessions by about 0.2  percent from fiscal year 2010 through fiscal year 2014. Collectively, DOD  increased female officer accessions by 1.0 percent from fiscal year 2010  through fiscal year 2014. Figure 2 shows female officer accession rates  for DOD and the Coast Guard for fiscal years 2010 through fiscal year  2014.
Although collectively the services slightly increased female officer  accession rates during this time period, female officer accessions for the  Army, the Navy, and the Air Force individually fluctuated from fiscal year  2010 through fiscal year 2014. For example, the highest rates for female  officer accessions during this time frame for the Army and the Air Force  occurred in fiscal year 2012, and fiscal year 2014 rates were lower in  comparison. However, both the Army and the Air Force fiscal year 2014  female officer accessions occurred at a slightly higher rate than they did  in fiscal year 2010. In fiscal year 2014, female officer accession rates  were 30.4 percent for the Coast Guard, 27.4 percent for the Air Force,  22.7 percent for the Navy, 21.4 percent for the Army, and 11.8 percent for  the Marine Corps. Figure 3 shows a comparison of accession rates for  female and male officers in DOD and the Coast Guard from fiscal year  2010 through fiscal year 2014.
Similar to the increases in female officer accession rates, the  representation of women in general in the officer corps for DOD and the  Coast Guard has also increased. Appendix II provides a comparison of  female and male representation in the officer corps in DOD and the Coast  Guard from fiscal year 2010 through fiscal year 2014.
section_title: DOD and the Coast Guard Have Not Determined Resources and Funding for Increasing the Recruitment and Accessions of Women into the Officer Corps
paragraphs: DOD and the Coast Guard have not determined the resources and  funding to increase the recruitment and, ultimately the accessions, of  women into the officer corps. DOD has budget line items in its operation  and maintenance budget for recruiting and advertising totaling over $1  billion for fiscal year 2016 (see table 2). Additionally, the Coast Guard has  a budget line item for recruiting and training, which was about $202.9  million in fiscal year 2014, about $197.8 million in fiscal year 2015, and  the Coast Guard requested $205.8 million in fiscal year 2016. According  to Coast Guard officials, the Coast Guard budget line item does not  include advertising. There is not a requirement for DOD or the Coast  Guard to report budget line items on the recruitment and accessions of  women officers.
We asked 11 offices that recruit or advertise for DOD and the Coast  Guard if they could identify how much was spent specifically on recruiting  and advertising for women officers. Of the 11 DOD and Coast Guard  offices, 3 DOD offices identified expenditures specifically for recruiting  and advertising for women accessions into the officer corps, 6 DOD and  Coast Guard offices could not identify how much was spent specifically  for recruiting and advertising for women accessions because their  budgeting was not reported by gender, and 2 offices did not respond to  the question.
Given that there is not a requirement to report budget information on  recruitment and accessions of women into the officer corps, we asked  DOD and Coast Guard offices in our questionnaire whether they could  identify resources and funding for their specific initiatives, if any, directed  at increasing women officer accessions. We sent questionnaires to 19  DOD and Coast Guard offices regarding initiatives directed at the  recruitment and accessions of women officers. Of the 18 offices that  responded to the questionnaire, 12 offices reported initiatives. Of those  12 offices, 2 identified resources and funding for all of their reported  initiatives. The other 10 offices identified resources and funding for  some, but not all, of their reported initiatives.
The military service academies have identified several types of both  monetary and non-monetary resources required to increase the number  of women candidates they enroll through their recruitment initiatives.  According to academy officials, these initiatives are funded in part through  the military service academies’ direct budgets. The following four  examples illustrate both monetary and non-monetary resources directed  at initiatives for female officer candidates.
U.S. Military Academy officials stated they implemented a direct  mailing campaign directed at increasing overall awareness among  potential applicants. The U.S. Military Academy purchased the names  of highly qualified, top-performing, college-bound high school students  from college testing services and then targeted the potential  applicants through the direct mailing campaign. Officials reported  allocating approximately $462,000 overall and $71,000 for women  specifically since the campaign started in 2013.
The U.S. Naval Academy reported that as of January 2015 it  dedicated staff time resources to implement a Call-Out Program  through which female candidates with offers of appointments are  contacted to enable U.S. Naval Academy officials to answer any  questions they may have and thereby help them decide to accept the  offers of appointment.
The U.S. Air Force Academy admissions office reported that it  dedicated time and resources of staff, cadets, and faculty to offer  women a 5-day, fully immersive cadet experience through a summer  seminar. According to officials, this initiative allows women to see the  opportunities available and experience life at the U.S. Air Force  Academy, which they consider critical to overcoming the cultural  biases that may deter some women from considering military service  as a viable career.
U.S. Coast Guard Academy officials reported that they utilized travel  expenditures to conduct outreach visits to all-female high schools to  recruit women and introduce them to the opportunities at the U.S.  Coast Guard Academy.
section_title: DOD and the Coast Guard Reported Initiatives for Increasing the Recruitment and Accessions of Women into the Officer Corps, but Do Not Have an Oversight Framework and Evaluations for Key Initiatives
paragraphs: In response to our questionnaire, DOD and the Coast Guard reported 10  initiatives directed specifically at increasing the recruitment and  accessions of women into the officer corps. In addition, DOD reported  another 10 initiatives directed generally at increasing recruitment and  accessions of women. However, there is no oversight framework for the  initiatives, related to increasing women in the applicant pool, consistent  with applicable law, to include program goals, performance measures  linked to program goals, and resource allocation linked to program goals.  In addition, DOD and the Coast Guard have not conducted evaluations of  all of these initiatives, which could help ensure key initiatives are  achieving their intended purpose.
subsections: section_title: DOD and the Coast Guard Reported Initiatives Directed at Increasing the Recruitment and Accessions of Women into the Officer Corps
paragraphs: In response to our questionnaire, DOD and the Coast Guard reported 10  initiatives directed specifically at increasing female officers’ recruitment  and accessions. For example, as discussed earlier, U.S. Coast Guard  Academy admissions officers visit all-female high schools to promote the  opportunities available for women at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.  Additionally, in response to a Secretary of the Air Force memorandum  that directs the Air Force to increase the applicant pool for female officers,  the Air Force ROTC is examining how its enrollment process and criteria  affects the ability of women to meet recruiting requirements.
DOD identified another 10 initiatives generally directed at increasing the  recruitment and accessions of women, but not specifically directed at  female officer accessions. For example, the Marine Corps hosts  workshops for women’s college basketball coaches to increase  awareness and support among the athletic coaching staff and to facilitate  engagement with female college athletes. While this initiative is directed  at women, the Marine Corps did not report this initiative as directed at  female officer accessions but rather at increasing awareness of the  Marine Corps among college athletes and coaching staff. The Navy  Recruiting Command created a Facebook page specifically for women to  provide them with a digital forum to exchange information and questions  about the Navy. In table 3 we show that, on the basis of our analysis of  DOD’s and the Coast Guard’s responses to the questionnaire, as of July  2015 the 20 initiatives (the 10 directed specifically at increasing female  officers’ recruitment and accessions and the 10 directed at increasing the  recruitment and accessions of women in general) fall into three main  categories—advertising/marketing, outreach, and policy/program review  and changes.
In addition to the 20 initiatives mentioned above, DOD and the Coast  Guard reported another 37 initiatives that they are currently using to  increase recruitment and accessions generally. While these 37 initiatives  are inclusive of women and could serve to increase the recruitment and  accessions of women into the officer corps, they are not exclusively  directed at women or at female officers’ accessions. For example, the  Navy Recruiting Command hosts a program called Influencers-to-Sea  Embarks that is directed at increasing diversity generally and not directed  only at women. Through this program, the Navy invites influencers, such  as university presidents and mayors, to embark on a Navy vessel and  learn about the opportunities the Navy offers. In addition, the Coast  Guard Recruiting Command has a hometown recruiter program in which  current Coast Guard servicemembers return to their hometown to attend  outreach events, such as visiting local schools to talk about their Coast  Guard experience. While the Coast Guard Recruiting Command told us  that it uses this program to increase women’s accessions, the program is  directed at increasing accessions generally. For a complete list of the 57  initiatives that DOD and the Coast Guard reported were directed at  increasing recruitment and accessions (10 specifically at female officers’  accessions, 10 at women in general, and 37 at increasing recruitment and  accessions), see appendix III.
The Navy and the Air Force also reported planned initiatives that are not  yet in use to increase the recruitment and accessions of women into the  officer corps. According to U.S. Naval Academy officials, the U.S. Naval  Academy is in the process of hiring a marketing consultant who will help  in developing a strategic messaging and marketing campaign directed at  young women as well as development of new marketing materials,  videos, and social media channels to reach them. Additionally, according  to Air Force officials, the Air Force Recruiting Service is planning to  establish a cadre of officer recruiters dedicated to targeting applicants in  accordance with the Secretary of the Air Force memorandum, which  identifies increasing the applicant pool for women officers.
section_title: DOD and the Coast Guard Do Not Have an Oversight Framework and Evaluations for Key Initiatives Directed at Increasing the Applicant Pool for Female Officers
paragraphs: DOD and the Coast Guard do not have an oversight framework for their  initiatives. More specifically, they do not have an oversight framework that  includes (1) program goals; (2) performance measures linked to program  goals to measure progress toward achieving those goals; and (3)  resource allocation linked to program goals. Our prior work has  demonstrated the importance of establishing an oversight framework and  has shown that having an effective plan for implementing programs and  measuring progress can help decision makers determine whether  initiatives are achieving the desired results. Moreover, key practices for  implementing a results-oriented oversight framework requires agencies to  clearly establish program goals for which they will be held accountable,  measure progress toward achieving those goals, determine strategies  and resources to effectively accomplish those goals, and use  performance information to make programmatic decisions necessary to  improve performance. Additionally, evaluations can play a key role in  program planning, management, and oversight by providing feedback on  both program design and execution. Program evaluation analyzes  performance measures to assess the achievement of performance  objectives.
Although DOD and Coast Guard officials agree that increasing the  representation of women is important, DOD and the Coast Guard do not  have a clearly defined role for providing oversight of the various initiatives  and the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps, and the Coast Guard do not  have program goals for their initiatives directed at increasing the  recruitment of women into the officer corps. While federal law places  limits on DOD’s ability to set certain kinds of recruitment or accessions  goals and officials with several of the recruitment and accession sources  stated that there are legal concerns with quantifiable accession goals,  officials also stated that there are not legal concerns with goals related to  recruitment, such as applicant pool goals. For example, an Air Force  official stated that there were legal concerns with setting goals for actual  accessions, or hires, since they cannot consider ethnicity, race, or gender  when making decisions about hiring. However, Air Force officials stated  there were not any legal concerns with targeting certain demographic  groups in recruiting efforts in an attempt to shape the applicant pool.  Officials at the U.S. Naval Academy also stated that they have no legal  concerns with recruiting initiatives, but that gender-based accessions  plans must serve an important, governmental objective and be  substantially related to achieving that objective.
One of the five Armed Forces we met with has a current quantifiable goal  related to the recruitment of women into the officer corps. The Air Force  has a quantifiable goal related to increasing the applicant pool of women  into the officer corps, which could in turn serve to increase female  officers’ accessions. In a June 2014 memorandum, the Secretary of the  Air Force directed the Air Force to institute a wide range of diversity goals  for its active duty officer applicant pools, including a 30 percent applicant  pool goal for female officers. An Air Force official stated that the officer  applicant pool goal was developed to provide the Air Force’s officer  accession sources with the incentive to identify and recruit from untapped  sources of officer applicants. An Air Force official also stated that  establishing this goal generated discussions among the officer accession  sources about how to achieve this common goal in light of these sources’  respective operational differences and that the need to meet the broader  goal might potentially result in the accession sources developing their  own respective performance measures.
Such applicant pool goals were also noted in the 2011 Military Leadership  Diversity Commission report, which recommended developing similar  goals for qualified minority applicants to precommissioning officer  programs. The Military Leadership Diversity Commission stated that one  way to ensure that there is a demographically diverse applicant pool is to  develop goals for qualified minority applicants. According to the Military  Leadership Diversity Commission, the goals would not be used during the  actual admissions decision but would help ensure that there is a  demographically diverse applicant pool from which to select each year. A  similar recommendation was made by the Defense Advisory Committee  on Women in the Services in its 2013 report. The Defense Advisory  Committee on Women in the Services recommended that all of the  services have targets to gauge progress in increasing the representation  of women in the officer corps (and therefore in the principal accession  sources for officers).
Officials with the other recruitment and accession sources with whom we  met stated that they do not have clear goals with quantifiable metrics  linked with those goals related to the recruitment and accessions of  women into the officer corps. Army officials stated that they had not  received any documented guidance or goals directing them to increase  the number of female applicants for officer positions or female officer  accessions. Similarly, while the Secretary of the Navy publicly expressed  the importance of increasing the number of women in the Navy and  Marine Corps, with the exception of submarines, Navy and Marine Corps  officials stated that they currently do not have documented guidance or  goals directing them to increase the number of female officer applicants  or accessions. Coast Guard officials also stated that although there is an  overall intent to increase diversity, they had no specific goals associated  with increasing the number of female officer applicants or accessions.
Moreover, DOD and the Coast Guard reported evaluating seven out of  ten of their initiatives focused exclusively on the accessions of women  into the officer corps. However, in the absence of program goals for  initiatives directed at increasing the applicant pool and ultimately the  accessions of women into the officer corps, they do not have performance  measures linked to program goals to evaluate the extent to which their  initiatives are achieving their intended purpose. In response to our  questionnaire, DOD and the Coast Guard reported they had conducted  evaluations of seven of the initiatives focused exclusively on the  accessions of women into the officer corps, although we could only verify  the evaluation of an initiative from Navy Recruiting Command. For  example, Navy Recruiting Command conducted targeted direct mail and  e-mail initiatives with female-specific content and tracked the leads  generated in response to the initiative and the percentage of leads that  resulted in a recruit joining the Navy. Additionally, Coast Guard Recruiting  Command reported implementing an online and print marketing campaign  directed toward women and using online user metrics to track the  effectiveness of its online advertising materials. According to military  service academy officials, they use data on applicants and accessions of  women from the military service academies to measure how well current  recruitment and accessions initiatives are working to increase the  recruitment and accessions of female officers.
Military service officials provided a variety of reasons for not evaluating  the initiatives, including the subjectivity of the information, the lack of  funding for evaluations, and the newness of the program. For example,  the Marine Corps provides take-home recruiting materials that feature  stories of female Marine Corps officers. Officials reported that, although  they have collected some data, they have not developed a way to  evaluate the effectiveness of the initiative using those data. The Air Force  ROTC reported an initiative implementing additional height  measurements that could provide more waiver requests for women, since  the current restrictions for undergraduate pilot training eliminates  approximately 50 percent of female candidates. Although Air Force ROTC  reported it has collected initial data on this initiative, it reported that it is  too early in the process to evaluate this initiative. While it may be  impossible and impractical to measure the effectiveness of all of DOD’s  and the Coast Guard’s initiatives to increase the applicant pool and  ultimately female officer accessions, developing performance measures  and conducting evaluations are critical to assessing the effectiveness and  quality of performance over time toward meeting program goals.
Without an oversight framework that includes program goals (consistent  with applicable law), such as goals related to the composition of the  applicant pool and performance measures, DOD and the Coast Guard  are unable to ensure that resources are linked to program goals. As  previously discussed, DOD and the Coast Guard have reported allocating  resources and funding for initiatives directed at increasing the recruitment  and accessions of women into the officer corps; however, many  recruitment and accessions sources identified resources and funding for  some, but not all, of their reported initiatives. Moreover, without  evaluations of key initiatives, DOD and the Coast Guard are unable to  ensure resources are dedicated to those initiatives most effective at  achieving their intended purpose.
section_title: Conclusions
paragraphs: DOD and the Coast Guard have expressed their intent to increase the  number of female officers beyond current levels. Data show that female  officer accessions have increased slightly and DOD and the Coast Guard  have several initiatives aimed at further increases. DOD and the Coast  Guard have also targeted resources to some of these initiatives.  However, without an oversight framework that includes program goals  with performance measures and resource allocation linked to those goals  and evaluations of key initiatives, decisions makers do not have the  information they need to determine the effectiveness of DOD’s and the  Coast Guard’s efforts to increase female officer recruitment and  accessions. Given the effect of continuing fiscal challenges due to  sequestration and reduced budgets, it is important that DOD and the  Coast Guard are able to identify which initiatives are the most effective at  increasing the recruitment and accessions of women and whether limited  resources are being directed toward the most effective initiatives.
section_title: Recommendations for Executive Action
paragraphs: To improve DOD’s management of initiatives directed at increasing the  recruitment and accessions of women into the officer corps, we  recommend that the Secretary of Defense direct the Under Secretary of  Defense, Personnel and Readiness, in collaboration with the service  Secretaries, to take the following actions:
Develop an oversight framework that includes or incorporates  (consistent with applicable law):
Service-wide program goals for initiatives directed at female  officers’ recruitment, such as goals related to the composition of  the applicant pool;
Performance measures linked to program goals; and
Resource allocations linked to program goals.
Conduct evaluations for key recruitment initiatives to help ensure  these initiatives are achieving their intended purpose.
To improve the Coast Guard’s management of initiatives to increase the  recruitment and accessions of women into the officer corps, we  recommend that the Commandant of the Coast Guard take the following  actions:
Develop an oversight framework that includes or incorporates  (consistent with applicable law):
Service-wide program goals for initiatives directed at female  officers’ recruitment, such as goals related to the composition of  the applicant pool;
Performance measures linked to program goals; and
Resource allocations linked to program goals.
Conduct evaluations for key recruitment initiatives to help ensure  these initiatives are achieving their intended purpose.
section_title: Agency Comments and Our Evaluation
paragraphs: We provided a draft of this report to DOD and the Department of  Homeland Security (DHS) for review and comment. Written comments  from DOD and DHS are reprinted in their entirety in appendixes IV and V,  respectively. In summary, DOD concurred with the first recommendation  and did not state whether it concurred with the second recommendation.  DHS concurred with both of the recommendations.
DOD concurred with the first recommendation to develop an oversight  framework that includes or incorporates (consistent with applicable law),  (1) service-wide program goals for initiatives directed at female officers’  recruitment, such as goals related to the composition of the applicant  pool; (2) performance measures linked to the program goals; and (3)  resource allocations linked to program goals. In its comments, DOD noted  that the services have taken steps, through targeted outreach and  recruiting efforts, to increase minority and female representation in the  officer applicant pool for DOD’s commissioning programs. DOD stated  that it had updated relevant service academy guidance that will address  the development of quantifiable performance goals and measures linked  with the program mission and goals of the service academies. DOD  stated that it plans to publish updated guidance by February 2016 for the  services’ respective ROTC programs to measure the quality,  demography, and resources of each unit to monitor and assess the  performance, growth, and progress of programs in meeting the officer  accession needs of the services. While these steps are positive, we  continue to believe that fully addressing this recommendation by  developing an oversight framework that includes service-wide program  goals and performance measures and resource allocation linked to  program goals would allow the department to improve DOD’s  management of initiatives directed at increasing the recruitment and  accessions of women into the officer corps.
DOD did not state whether it concurred with the second recommendation  to conduct evaluations for key recruitment initiatives to help ensure these  initiatives are achieving their intended purpose. DOD stated that it is  studying the dynamics of female accession and retention and that the  RAND Corporation is preparing studies related to recruiting women and  explaining gender differences in officer career progression. DOD also  stated that the Joint Advertising, Marketing Research and Studies activity  conducts surveys and analysis on the dynamics of the recruitment  market, including the recruitment and accession of women. Lastly, DOD  stated that revised DOD guidance reestablishes an annual assessment  and report of the commissioning programs and would assist in evaluating  the progress made by the service academies and ROTC in achieving  program objectives. While these actions represent positive steps, we  continue to believe that evaluations of the services’ initiatives could help  to ensure key initiatives are achieving their intended purpose. We found  that DOD had not evaluated all of their initiatives directed at increasing  female officers’ recruitment and accessions, and while it may be  impossible and impractical to measure the effectiveness of all of the  initiatives, evaluations are critical to assessing the effectiveness and  quality of performance over time toward meeting program goals.
In its written comments, DHS concurred with the recommendation to  develop an oversight framework that includes or incorporates (consistent  with applicable law), (1) service-wide program goals for initiatives directed  at female officers’ recruitment, such as goals related to the composition of  the applicant pool; (2) performance measures linked to the program  goals; and (3) resource allocations linked to program goals. In its  comments, DHS stated that the Coast Guard has a goal for female officer  accessions and will collect data to determine whether the goal is being  achieved and allocate resources for officer recruitment focused on female  campaigns. DHS also concurred with the recommendation to conduct  evaluations for key recruitment initiatives to help ensure these initiatives  are achieving their intended purpose. DHS stated that the U.S. Coast  Guard Academy routinely evaluates recruiting initiatives to determine  measures of success and that this data collection resulting from these  evaluations will be tailored to specifically account for females. DHS also  stated that the Coast Guard will collect data to determine whether the  goals have been achieved, which will allow for processes and policies to  facilitate collecting gender-based recruiting metrics. DHS provided an  estimated completion date of October 2016 for these actions. We believe  these are positive steps and if implemented as planned would meet the  intent of our recommendations.
We are sending copies of this report to the appropriate congressional  committees, the Secretary of Defense, the Under Secretary of Defense  for Personnel and Readiness, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,  the Secretaries of the military departments, the Secretary of Homeland  Security, and the Commandant of the Coast Guard. The report is also  available at no charge on the GAO website at http://www.gao.gov.
If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please contact  me at (202) 512-3604 or farrellb@gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices  of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last  page of this report. GAO staff who made key contributions to this report  are listed in appendix VI.
section_title: Appendix I: Scope and Methodology
paragraphs: The scope of our analysis included female officer accessions from all  Department of Defense (DOD) and Coast Guard officer accession  sources, which include the military service academies, the Reserve  Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), Officer Candidate Schools/Officer  Training School, and direct commissioning programs. We included both  the active and reserve components of the officer corps, including the  federal components of the National Guard. Table 4 contains a list of the  agencies and offices we contacted during the course of our review.
For our first objective, to evaluate the extent to which accessions of  women into the officer corps have increased, and DOD and the Coast  Guard have determined resources and funding to increase the  accessions of women into the officer corps, we obtained accessions data  maintained by the Defense Manpower Data Center from fiscal year 2010  through fiscal year 2014. We chose to review data from the last 5 fiscal  years to focus on current initiatives. We analyzed the data to identify  trends in female officer accessions over this time period. We also  analyzed the data to identify trends in female officer representation for  this same time period. We assessed the reliability of the accessions and  representation data by reviewing the Defense Manpower Data Center’s  methodology for collecting these data and by conducting a review of the  completeness of the data. We found the data to be sufficiently reliable for  the purposes of this report.
We also obtained and reviewed budget justification reports, focusing on  budget line items for recruiting and advertising. We identified obligations  for these activities from fiscal year 2014, appropriations from fiscal year  2015, and estimated budgets for fiscal year 2016. In addition, we  obtained recruiting and advertising expenditures for women officers from  11 offices we identified in DOD and the Coast Guard with responsibilities  related to recruiting or advertising. We also obtained information on  resources and funding through a questionnaire that we developed and  distributed to 19 DOD and Coast Guard offices we identified in  consultation with DOD and Coast Guard officials that conduct recruiting  and accessions of women into the officer corps, such as the military  service academies, recruiting commands, and service commands  responsible for overseeing the ROTC, Officer Candidate Schools/Officer  Training School, and direct commissioning programs.
To identify these 19 offices, we reviewed DOD and Coast Guard  guidance and we discussed the services’ roles and responsibilities related  to recruitment and accessions with officials from each military service,  including the Coast Guard. In an e-mail in advance of the questionnaire,  we asked the relevant DOD officials to confirm the offices that could have  initiatives directed at increasing recruitment and accessions of women  officers. We did not receive feedback from the headquarters officials that  we should add any other offices to our questionnaire recipient list. In the  questionnaire, we asked these 19 offices to identify resource and funding  information for the initiatives they are currently using to increase the  accessions of women into the officer corps. Of the 19 questionnaires we  distributed, we received responses to the questionnaires from 18 offices.  Of these, 12 offices reported initiatives. We assessed the reliability of the  marketing budget and expenditures reported by the U.S. Military  Academy by sending a questionnaire and interviewing academy officials.  We found the data to be sufficiently reliable for the purposes of this  report.
For our second objective, to evaluate the extent to which DOD and the  Coast Guard have initiatives to increase the recruitment and accessions  of women into the officer corps and an oversight framework, we reviewed  responses to our questionnaire regarding initiatives the services have  directed at increasing the accessions of women into the officer corps. We  also contacted officials in DOD and the Coast Guard offices that have  roles and responsibilities related to the recruitment and accessions of  women. In the questionnaire, we asked these offices to identify current  initiatives they were using to increase the accessions of women into the  officer corps. For the National Guard, we requested that they report  initiatives at the headquarters and not the state level. For each initiative,  we asked officials to report whether the initiative was ongoing or ended  and whether the initiative focused (1) exclusively on increasing the  accessions of female officers, (2) exclusively on women but not only for  accessions, (3) exclusively on accessions but not only for women, or (4)  not only for women and not only for accessions. We also asked the  offices to report whether they had evaluated the initiatives and if so to  provide any documentation related to the evaluations. In addition to the  questionnaire, we interviewed agency officials to determine if there were  any new or planned initiatives to increase the accessions of women into  the officer corps. We analyzed the questionnaire responses to identify  initiatives underway to increase the recruitment and accessions of  women. The initiatives included in this report are those that were reported  by DOD and the Coast Guard in response to our questionnaire. There  may be additional initiatives that exist but were not reported.
We conducted a content analysis of the questionnaire responses. We  categorized all of the initiatives into three types: (1) advertising/marketing,  (2) outreach, and (3) policy/program review and changes. Initiatives  placed in the advertising category included videos, print, social media,  and mailing campaigns. Outreach initiatives included speaking  engagements, conferences, career fairs, campus visits, and phone calls.  Policy/program review and change initiatives include those that are aimed  at reviewing and revising current policies and programs. Initiatives could  be placed in only one category. One GAO analyst conducted this  analysis, categorizing the information and entering it into a spreadsheet,  and a different GAO analyst reviewed the categorizations. Any initial  disagreements in the categorization were discussed and reconciled by  the analysts.
To evaluate the extent to which DOD and the Coast Guard have  developed an oversight framework to increase the accessions of women  into the officer corps, we compared the questionnaire responses,  documentation, and information from our interviews against key elements  of an oversight framework, which includes establishing program goals,  performance measures, and resource allocation linked to program goals.  We interviewed officials to determine if there were agency goals for the  recruitment and accessions of women into the officer corps and if the  reported initiatives were linked to agency goals, if any.
To evaluate the extent to which DOD and the Coast Guard evaluated  their initiatives to ensure initiatives are achieving their intended purposes,  when possible, we reviewed the evaluations that questionnaire  respondents said had been conducted on initiatives directed at increasing  the recruitment and accessions of women into the officer corps. Two  GAO methodologists reviewed the documentation to assess whether an  evaluation had been conducted. We focused the review of the reported  evaluations on the 10 initiatives focused exclusively on the accessions of  women into the officer corps. Of those initiatives, 7 responding offices  reported conducting some form of evaluation. Of those 7 initiatives, 5 did  not provide documentation of the evaluation so we could not assess  whether they had conducted an evaluation. The methodologists used a  broad definition of evaluation to include any analysis of a specific  initiative’s process or outcome (including costs, effectiveness, or other  possible measures) and applied professional judgment to decide whether  the documentation provided sufficient evidence that such an analysis had  been conducted. The methodologists concluded that the documentation  for one initiative indicated that the accession source had tracked  response rates to a specific e-mail initiative, which is a minimal yet  reasonable measurement of the immediate output of the initiative.  However, they concluded that the documentation for the other initiative  reported general accession results but provided no evidence of an  analysis that linked those results with any specific initiative.
We conducted this performance audit from February 2015 to November  2015 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing  standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to  obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for  our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe  that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings  and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
section_title: Appendix II: Officer Corps Representation by Gender and Armed Force from Fiscal Year 2010 through Fiscal Year 2014
paragraphs: The percentage of women represented in the officer corps for DOD and  the Coast Guard has increased since the early 1970s, including over  recent years. According to the Population Representation in the Military  Services: Fiscal Year 2013 Summary Report that is released by the Office  of the Under Secretary of Defense, Personnel and Readiness, female  representation in the active component commissioned officer corps has  increased since 1973. We reviewed active and reserve officer corps data  from the Defense Manpower Data Center for fiscal years 2010 through  fiscal year 2014. The data indicate that the percentage of women in the  officer corps for DOD and the Coast Guard slightly increased during those  years. Collectively, the percentage of women in the officer corps for DOD  has increased by 0.7 percent. For the Coast Guard, the percentage of  women in the officer corps has increased by about 2.1 percent. Figure 4  shows female officer representation rates for DOD and the Coast Guard  from fiscal year 2010 through fiscal year 2014.
The percentage of women represented in the officer corps from fiscal  year 2010 through fiscal year 2014 slightly increased each year across  the services, including the Coast Guard. Similarly, the overall increase in  female officer representation during this time period was 1.4 percent for  the Navy, about 1 percent for the Air Force, about 0.7 percent for the  Marine Corps, and 0.4 percent for the Army. Figure 5 shows female  officer representation rates by Armed Force from fiscal year 2010 through  fiscal year 2014.
section_title: Appendix III: The Initiatives That DOD and the Coast Guard Reported Using to Increase the Recruitment and Accessions of Women into the Officer Corps
paragraphs: In response to our questionnaire, DOD and the Coast Guard reported 57  initiatives that are used specifically or generally to increase the  accessions of women into the officer corps. Responding offices were  asked to place the reported initiatives in one of four types to describe  whether the initiative was focused exclusively on women officer  accessions or had a broader focus. The four types of initiatives are (1)  exclusively women officer accessions; (2) women only, but not only for  accessions; (3) accessions only, but not only for women; and (4) not only  women and not only accessions. Table 5 shows initiatives DOD and the  Coast Guard reported as “exclusive to women officer accessions;” table 6  shows initiatives that are for “women only and not only accessions;” and  table 7 shows initiatives that fall into either of the last two types of  initiatives—”accessions only, but not only for women” and “not only  women and not only accessions.”
section_title: Appendix IV: Comments from the Department of Defense
section_title: Appendix V: Comments from the Department of Homeland Security
section_title: Appendix VI: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments
subsections: section_title: Staff Acknowledgments
paragraphs: In addition to the contact named above, Kimberly C. Seay (Assistant  Director), Timothy Carr, Nicole Collier, Cynthia Grant, Mae Jones, Amie  Lesser, Elisha Matvay, Terry Richardson, Matthew Sakrekoff, Michael  Silver, Paola Tena, Cheryl Weissman, Alexander Welsh and Michael  Willems made major contributions to this report.
section_title: Related GAO Products
paragraphs: Military Personnel: DOD Is Expanding Combat Service Opportunities for  Women, but Should Monitor Long-Term Integration Progress.  GAO-15-589. Washington, D.C.: July 20, 2015.
Military Personnel: Actions Needed to Improve Evaluation and Oversight  of Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Programs. GAO-14-93. Washington,  D.C.: November 13, 2013.
Military Education: Additional DOD Guidance Is Needed to Enhance  Oversight of the Service Academies and Their Preparatory Schools.  GAO-12-327R. Washington, D.C.: February 27, 2012.
Military Personnel: Strategic Plan Needed to Address Army’s Emerging  Officer Accession and Retention Challenges. GAO-07-224. Washington,  D.C.: January 19, 2007.
Military Education: DOD Needs to Enhance Performance Goals and  Measures to Improve Oversight of Military Academies. GAO-03-1000.  Washington, D.C.: September 10, 2003.
Gender Issues: Trends in the Occupational Distribution of Military  Women. GAO/NSIAD-99-212. Washington, D.C.: September 14, 1999.
Gender Issues: Perceptions of Readiness in Selected Units.  GAO/NSIAD-99-120. Washington, D.C.: May 13, 1999.
Gender Issues: Information to Assess Servicemembers’ Perceptions of  Gender Inequities Is Incomplete. GAO/NSIAD-99-27. Washington, D.C.:  November 18, 1998.
Gender Issues: Improved Guidance and Oversight Are Needed to Ensure  Validity and Equity of Fitness Standards. GAO/NSIAD-99-9. Washington,  D.C.: November 17, 1998.
Military Academy: Gender and Racial Disparities. GAO/NSIAD-94-95.  Washington, D.C.: March 17, 1994.
Military Downsizing: Balancing Accessions and Losses is Key to Shaping  the Future Force. GAO/NSIAD-93-241. Washington, D.C.: September 30,  1993.
Air Force Academy: Gender and Racial Disparities. GAO/NSIAD-93-244.  Washington, D.C.: September 24, 1993.
Naval Academy: Gender and Racial Disparities. GAO/NSIAD-93-54.  Washington, D.C.: April 30, 1993.
Officer Commissioning Programs: More Oversight and Coordination  Needed. GAO/NSIAD-93-37. Washington, D.C.: November 6, 1992.