Military Personnel: Longer Time Between Moves Related to Higher  
Satisfaction and Retention (03-AUG-01, GAO-01-841).		 
								 
About one-third of all military members make permanent change of 
station (PCS) moves each year according to the Department of	 
Defense. In addition, these moves may involve the members'	 
dependents and household goods. PCS moves are a considerable cost
to both the government and individual service members, and not	 
all relocation and moving costs incurred by military personnel	 
and their families are covered by the government. These 	 
reimbursements are based on what property a member was authorized
to move and weight allowances that vary by grade and dependents. 
This report addresses (1) PCS tours and (2) unaccompanied PCS	 
tours. GAO found that the average duration time between PCS moves
was about two years. Personnel who were not married and had no	 
dependents have the least time between PCS moves. Among the	 
services, the Marine Corps had the shortest average time between 
PCS moves. Among enlisted personnel, those in the combat	 
occupations had the shortest time between moves, and for	 
officers, those who were in the intelligence and tactical	 
operations areas had the shortest average tours. GAO found that  
the duration of PCS tours was related to satisfaction. Those with
shorter time spent between moves were less likely to be 	 
satisfied, and were more likely to have a spouse who favored the 
member leaving the military, and finally, members where less	 
likely to stay in the military. The most frequently cited	 
problems to PCS moves were the loss or decrease of a spouse's	 
income, change in the cost of living, waiting for permanent	 
housing to become available, and spouse's employment. Regarding  
unaccompanied tours, service members cited several reasons for	 
why they traveled alone, including that the service member was	 
separated or divorced, the service member's spouse worked or was 
in school, or the government would not pay for the cost of moving
dependents. Those serving unaccompanied tours were less satisfied
with the overall military way of life, types of assignments	 
received, and amount of personal or family time available.	 
-------------------------Indexing Terms------------------------- 
REPORTNUM:   GAO-01-841 					        
    ACCNO:   A01516						        
  TITLE:     Military Personnel: Longer Time Between Moves Related to 
             Higher Satisfaction and Retention                                
     DATE:   08/03/2001 
  SUBJECT:   Military housing					 
	     Employee transfers 				 
	     Military personnel 				 
	     Quality of life					 
	     Job satisfaction surveys				 
	     Military dependents				 

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GAO-01-841
     
Briefing Report to the Chairman and Ranking Minority Member, Subcommittee on
Defense, Committee on Appropriations, U. S. Senate

United States General Accounting Office

GAO

August 2001 MILITARY PERSONNEL

Longer Time Between Moves Related to Higher Satisfaction and Retention

GAO- 01- 841

Page i GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel Letter 1

Results in Brief 2 Agency Comments and Our Evaluation 4

Briefing Section I Permanent Change of Station Moves 6

Briefing Section II Unaccompanied Permanent Change of Station Tours 22

Appendix I Scope and Methodology 30

Appendix II Comments From the Department of Defense 32 Contents

Page 1 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

August 3, 2001 The Honorable Daniel K. Inouye Chairman The Honorable Ted
Stevens Ranking Minority Member Subcommittee on Defense Committee on
Appropriations United States Senate

Periodic relocations are a basic fact of military life. The Department of
Defense (DOD) reports that every year, about one- third of all military
members make permanent change of station (PCS) moves. In addition, such
moves may involve the members? dependents and household goods.

PCS moves also involve considerable cost to both the government and
individual servicemembers. DOD?s fiscal year 2001 appropriation for PCS
travel expenses was more than $2.8 billion. But, since PCS cost
reimbursement is based on what property a member was authorized to move and
weight allowances that vary by grade and dependents, not all relocation and
moving costs incurred by military personnel and their families are
necessarily covered by the government. According to DOD, mid- grade and
senior noncommissioned officers (enlisted personnel in grades E- 5 to E- 9)
average more than $1,000 in nonreimbursable expenses each time they move.
Among officers, members? out- of- pocket costs are even greater.

Your Subcommittee asked us to provide information related to the experience
of military personnel regarding permanent change of station moves. We
briefed your staff on our findings on May 20, 2001. As agreed, this report
addresses

 PCS tours (including the average duration of PCS tours and the subgroups
that experience shorter times between PCS moves, the relationship between
shorter duration tours and satisfaction and retention, and the most
frequently experienced PCS problems and the subgroups they affect) and 
unaccompanied PCS tours (including the extent to which they occur and

the subgroups that experience them, the reasons for unaccompanied tours, and
the relationship between unaccompanied tours and satisfaction and
retention).

United States General Accounting Office Washington, DC 20548

Page 2 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

The information in this report was derived from DOD?s 1999 Survey of Active
Duty Personnel. We worked with the Department to design this survey. It was
mailed in the fall of 1999 to a stratified, random sample of over 66,000
uniformed personnel. DOD provided the final survey data to us in late 2000.
The survey included several questions dealing with PCS moves. Detailed
results and graphical displays appear in Briefing Sections I and II.
Technical details about the survey are provided in appendix I.

The average time between PCS moves was about 2 years. Personnel who were not
married and had no dependents tended to have the least time between PCS
moves while those who were married and had dependents had the longest
average tour length. Lower ranking personnel moved more frequently, probably
as a function of being in the early stages of their career where shorter
duration moves may be associated with initial training assignments. Among
the services, the Marine Corps had the shortest average time between PCS
moves while the Air Force had the longest. The shorter Marine Corps? PCS
tour length may be due to having a larger portion of first- term enlisted
personnel relative to the other services, which would put more of them in
that early career training window. Among enlisted personnel, those in the
combat occupations (i. e., infantry, gun crews, seamanship, etc.) had the
shortest time between moves, while craft workers (e. g., metal workers,
construction workers, etc.) and support and administration occupations had
the longest. For officers, those in the intelligence and tactical operations
areas had the shortest average tours, while scientists and professionals,
health care officers, and administrators had the longest.

The duration of PCS tours was related to satisfaction. Those with shorter
time spent between moves were less likely to be satisfied with the frequency
of PCS moves and less satisfied with the military way of life. Also, the
shorter the average time between moves, the more likely the member?s spouse
or significant other was to favor the member leaving the military. Lastly,
members experiencing shorter tours were less likely to indicate they would
choose to stay in the military and were less likely to expect to make the
military a career. However, it should be noted that career stage is highly
correlated with retention and career intent. Since early career (i. e.,
lower graded) personnel are more likely to have shorter PCS tours, the
relationship between retention and tour length may be partially a function
of career stage. The largest increases in satisfaction and retention
occurred where the average tour length went from 1- 2 years to 2- 3 years.
Results in Brief

Page 3 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

The majority of military personnel (56 percent) did not indicate any serious
problems stemming from their most recent PCS move. The most frequently cited
problem area tended to involve economic concerns. The most frequently cited
problems were the loss or decrease of spouse?s income (28 percent), change
in the cost of living (27 percent), waiting for permanent housing to become
available (26 percent), and spouse?s employment (24 percent). 1 The types of
problems varied by the type of personnel. Higher ranking personnel and
personnel with dependents were more likely to cite problems dealing with
family disruptions and housingrelated issues, while lower ranking personnel
were more likely to report problems with reimbursements.

Some PCS tours involve separation from the family. About 14 percent of those
who were married and/ or had dependent children were not accompanied by
their families in the fall of 1999. 2 Air Force personnel were the least
likely to be serving unaccompanied tours while Marine Corps personnel were
the most likely. Enlisted personnel were twice as likely as officers (16
percent versus 8 percent) to be unaccompanied. Those stationed outside the
48 contiguous United States (OCONUS), particularly those in a foreign
country or an American territory, were more likely to be serving
unaccompanied tours than those stationed within the contiguous United States
(CONUS). About half of those who were single parents were not accompanied by
their families.

The most frequently cited reason for unaccompanied tours was that a member
was either legally separated or divorced from his/ her spouse (30 percent).
The next most frequently cited set of reasons involved avoiding disruptions
to the spouse?s career or the education of spouse or children. Another set
of reasons involved ?permanently unaccompanied? tours where, for example,
dependents were not command- sponsored and the cost of moving dependents
would be borne by the member. About 28 percent cited ?other? unspecified
reasons. Since those citing other unspecified reasons were more likely to be
in the lower enlisted grades (E4 and below) and more likely to report they
were having trouble making ends meet, this category may be related to
affordability. Those serving OCONUS tours were more likely to report that
the tours were designated

1 Since respondents were asked to check all that apply, percentages add to
more than 100 percent. 2 The analysis of unaccompanied tours includes only
those who were married and/ or had dependent children.

Page 4 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

as permanently unaccompanied, while those serving unaccompanied CONUS tours
were more likely to cite family disruption, the family would be joining them
later, or ?other? reason.

Those serving unaccompanied tours were less satisfied than those accompanied
by their families with the

 overall military way of life (47 percent versus 54 percent),

 types of assignments received (45 percent versus 54 percent), and

 amount of personal or family time available (25 percent versus 34
percent).

In addition, they reported that their spouses or significant others were
more inclined to favor them leaving the service. Finally, servicemembers who
were not accompanied by their families reported that they were less likely
to choose to remain in the military than those accompanied by their families
(52 percent versus 60 percent) and had a higher expectation of leaving the
service before retirement eligibility (45 percent versus 34 percent).

We provided a draft of this report to the Office of the Secretary of Defense
for comment. The Department concurred with our report. The Department noted
that it was important to recognize that no CONUS tours have been designated
as ?unaccompanied? and that all officially designated unaccompanied tours
involved assignments outside of CONUS. When family members do not accompany
members stationed in CONUS, the reason has involved the choice of the member
and the family.

The full text of the Department?s comments appears in appendix II. Agency
Comments

and Our Evaluation

Page 5 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

We are sending copies of this report to the appropriate congressional
committees; the Honorable Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense; the
Honorable David S. C. Chu, Under Secretary of Defense, Personnel and
Readiness; and the Director, Office of Management and Budget. Copies will
also be made available to other interested parties upon request.

If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please contact
Dr. William Beusse at 202- 512- 3517 or me at 202- 512- 5559.

Derek B. Stewart Director Defense Capabilities and Management

Briefing Section I: Permanent Change of Station Moves

Page 6 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

Source: GAO analysis of DOD?s 1999 Survey of Active Duty Personnel.

Briefing Section I: Permanent Change of Station Moves

Average Duration of PCS Tours During Career

Briefing Section I: Permanent Change of Station Moves

Page 7 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

The 1999 Department of Defense (DOD) personnel survey asked respondents to
indicate how many permanent change of station (PCS) moves they had made
during their active duty careers. We took their response to this question
and divided it into the number of years of service they reported. This gave
us a measure of the average length of the PCS tours they have had. Since the
response alternatives on the question on the number of PCS moves grouped all
moves in excess of 10 into a ?10 or more? category, our constructed measure
tends to produce a somewhat higher estimate of average tour length for
personnel with high years of service than such personnel actually
experienced.

The average time between PCS moves was about 2 years. About 20 percent had
an average tour length of only 1 year or less, while about 9 percent
averaged more than 4 years per PCS tour.

Briefing Section I: Permanent Change of Station Moves

Page 8 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

Source: GAO analysis of DOD?s 1999 Survey of Active Duty Personnel. Average
Duration of PCS Tours During

Career by Family Status

Briefing Section I: Permanent Change of Station Moves

Page 9 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

The average time between PCS moves varied by family status. Those who were
unmarried and had no dependents tended to have shorter PCS tours than those
who were married and had dependents. The reason for this pattern is not
clear. Since the bulk of those who are not married and have no dependents
are in the early stages of their careers, their PCS moves may include more
training tours, which tend to be shorter than operational tours. Also, those
who have dependents may have purposely sought tours that would provide their
families with more stability.

Briefing Section I: Permanent Change of Station Moves

Page 10 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

Source: GAO analysis of DOD?s 1999 Survey of Active Duty Personnel. Average
Duration of PCS Tours During

Career by Pay Grade Group

Briefing Section I: Permanent Change of Station Moves

Page 11 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

The average time between PCS moves varied by pay grade. Among enlisted
personnel, those who were more junior (E4 or below) tended to have shorter
average PCS tours. Again, this is likely due to a disproportionate number of
shorter training school assignments in the early career stages. Mid- grade
(E5- E6) and senior noncommissioned officers (E7- E9) tended to have the
longest average PCS tour lengths. Among the officers, junior officers had a
shorter average tour length than senior officers. Again, their PCS history
is likely to include a disproportionate number of training assignments
relative to operational assignments.

Briefing Section I: Permanent Change of Station Moves

Page 12 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

Source: GAO analysis of DOD?s 1999 Survey of Active Duty Personnel. Average
Duration of PCS Tours During

Career by Service

Briefing Section I: Permanent Change of Station Moves

Page 13 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

The Marine Corps had the shortest average PCS tours while the Air Force had
the longest. The shorter average PCS tour length of the Marine Corps may be
due to its greater proportion of first- term enlisted personnel (42 percent)
relative to the other services (which range from 18 to 23 percent), which
would put more Marines in that early career training window.

The average length of time between PCS moves was also related to occupation.
Among enlisted personnel, those in the combat occupations (i. e., infantry,
gun crews, seamanship, etc.) had the shortest time between moves while craft
workers (e. g., metal workers, construction workers, etc.) and support and
administration occupations had the longest. For officers, those in the
intelligence and tactical operations areas had the shortest average tours,
while scientists and professionals, health care officers, and administrators
had the longest.

Briefing Section I: Permanent Change of Station Moves

Page 14 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

Source: GAO analysis of DOD?s 1999 Survey of Active Duty Personnel.

The average duration of PCS moves was related to satisfaction.
Servicemembers with longer average PCS tour lengths were more satisfied with
the frequency of PCS moves. The largest decrease in satisfaction occurs
between the 1- 2 year tours and the 2- 3 year tours.

Relationship Between Average Length of PCS Tour and Satisfaction With
Frequency of PCS Moves

Briefing Section I: Permanent Change of Station Moves

Page 15 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

Source: GAO analysis of DOD?s 1999 Survey of Active Duty Personnel.

Servicemembers who averaged less than 2 years between PCS moves were less
satisfied with the military way of life than those experiencing longer
tours. Two years seems to be the point at which satisfaction dropped off.

Relationship Between Average Length of PCS Tour and Overall Satisfaction
With Military Way of Life

Briefing Section I: Permanent Change of Station Moves

Page 16 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

Source: GAO analysis of DOD?s 1999 Survey of Active Duty Personnel.

The survey also included a question that asked, ?Does your spouse,
girlfriend, or boyfriend think you should stay on or leave active duty??
Servicemembers who averaged less than 2 years between PCS moves saw their
spouses/ significant others as less in favor of them continuing on active
duty than those experiencing longer tours.

Relationship Between Average Length of PCS Tour and Views of Spouse or
Significant Other Regarding Staying in the Military

Briefing Section I: Permanent Change of Station Moves

Page 17 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

Source: GAO analysis of DOD?s 1999 Survey of Active Duty Personnel.

Servicemembers with longer times between PCS moves were more likely to
indicate they would choose to stay in the military. Some of the difference
is likely due to those with shorter average tours being in the earlier
career stages where retention intent tends to be lower.

Relationship Between Average Length of PCS Tour and Likelihood of Choosing
to Stay in the Military

Briefing Section I: Permanent Change of Station Moves

Page 18 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

Source: GAO analysis of DOD?s 1999 Survey of Active Duty Personnel.
Relationship Between Average Length of PCS Tour and

Expectation of Leaving the Service Before Retirement

Briefing Section I: Permanent Change of Station Moves

Page 19 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

Servicemembers with shorter times between PCS moves were more likely to
indicate an expectation that they would leave the military before reaching
retirement eligibility. Some of the difference is likely due to those with
shorter average tours being in the earlier career stages where retention
intent tends to be lower.

Briefing Section I: Permanent Change of Station Moves

Page 20 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

Source: GAO analysis of DOD?s 1999 Survey of Active Duty Personnel.

Overall, 56 percent of military personnel reported no serious problems
arising from their most recent PCS move. Those stationed outside the
continental U. S. (OCONUS) were more likely than those stationed in the
continental U. S. (CONUS) to experience one or more serious problems.
Unmarried personnel with no dependent children were the least likely to have
incurred serious problems, while those who were married and had dependent
children were the most likely to have encountered a serious problem. Also,
higher ranking personnel were more likely to report having problems than
lower ranking personnel. The thread running through these

Most Frequently Cited Problems Experienced on Last PCS Move

Briefing Section I: Permanent Change of Station Moves

Page 21 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

results seems to be that problems are associated with the complexity of the
move- such as moving overseas, moving a family, or moving more household
goods.

Economic concerns tended to dominate the list of most frequently cited PCS
problems. These included loss or decrease in spouse?s income, change in the
cost of living, spouse employment, timeliness and accuracy of
reimbursements, non- reimbursed transportation costs, and costs associated
with setting up a new residence (e. g., curtains and painting).

The least frequently cited problems were the transferability of entitlements
such as Supplemental Security Income (cited by 3 percent) and obtaining
special education services (cited by 4 percent). However, issues such as
these are likely to apply to very few personnel. Consequently, while these
percentages are relatively low among all DOD personnel, they may account for
a significant proportion of the personnel dependent upon such benefits and
services.

The types of problems encountered tended to vary by type of personnel.
Personnel with dependents were more likely to cite loss or decrease in
spouse?s income, spouse?s employment, availability of child care, spouse?s
or dependent?s education, waiting for permanent housing to become available,
and temporary lodging expenses as serious problems.

Lower ranking enlisted personnel (grades E1- E3) were more likely than other
enlisted personnel to cite problems pertaining to reimbursement, such as
timeliness of reimbursements, accuracy of reimbursements, nonreimbursed
transportation costs. They were also more likely to cite ?time

off at destination to complete move? as a serious problem. Higher ranking
enlisted personnel (grades E5- E9) and senior officers (grades O4- O6), on
the other hand, were more likely than lower ranking personnel to cite
housing- related problems such as waiting for permanent housing to become
available, selling or renting former residence, and purchasing or renting
current residence. Another problem was costs of setting up a new residence.

Higher ranking enlisted personnel (grades E5- E9) were also more likely to
identify family- related problems such as loss or decrease in spouse?s
income, spouse?s employment, availability of child care, and spouse?s or
dependent?s education.

Briefing Section II: Unaccompanied Permanent Change of Station Tours

Page 22 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

Note: This analysis only includes personnel who were married and/ or had
dependent children. Source: GAO analysis of DOD?s 1999 Survey of Active Duty
Personnel.

Briefing Section II: Unaccompanied Permanent Change of Station Tours

Percent of Members Whose Family Did Not Accompany Them on Current PCS Tour

Briefing Section II: Unaccompanied Permanent Change of Station Tours

Page 23 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

Family members do not accompany a servicemember on every PCS move. The term
?unaccompanied tour? refers here to situations where the spouse and family
were not with the member at his/ her permanent duty station. Designated
unaccompanied tours are all overseas. There are a variety of assignments to
locations overseas where the demands of the assignment, the potential safety
of dependents, the lack of available family housing, or the high cost of a
PCS move are potential issues. Typically, assignments to such locations will
be of shorter duration (i. e., 1 year or less) to minimize family
separation. For assignments within CONUS, the decision on whether to
accompany the member is up to the member and his/ her family. The following
analyses of unaccompanied tours only include those who were married and/ or
had dependent children.

Overall, about 14 percent of military personnel who were married and/ or had
dependent children were not accompanied by their families in late 1999. Air
Force personnel were the least likely to be serving unaccompanied tours,
while Marine Corps personnel were the most likely. Only 8 percent of
officers were not accompanied by their families, compared to 16 percent of
enlisted personnel. Those stationed OCONUS were more likely to be
unaccompanied than those serving in CONUS.

Briefing Section II: Unaccompanied Permanent Change of Station Tours

Page 24 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

Note: This analysis only includes personnel who were married and/ or had
dependent children. Source: GAO analysis of DOD?s 1999 Survey of Active Duty
Personnel.

Percent of Members Whose Family Did Not Accompany Them on Current PCS Tour

Briefing Section II: Unaccompanied Permanent Change of Station Tours

Page 25 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

Where a servicemember was stationed had an impact on whether the family
accompanied the member on the tour. About 25 percent of those who were
stationed overseas were unaccompanied, compared to 17 percent of those
stationed in an American territory (such as American Samoa, Guam, the U. S.
Virgin Islands, or Puerto Rico), and 12 percent of those stationed within
the United States.

Those who indicated they were currently on a deployment lasting at least 30
days were almost three times as likely to be on an unaccompanied PCS tour as
those not currently on deployment.

A little more than half of the single parents were not accompanied by their
families. Those who were married with dependent children were the least
likely to be unaccompanied.

Briefing Section II: Unaccompanied Permanent Change of Station Tours

Page 26 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

Note: This analysis only includes personnel who were married and/ or had
dependent children. Source: GAO analysis of DOD?s 1999 Survey of Active Duty
Personnel.

Reasons Cited for Family Members Not Accompanying Member on Current Tour

Briefing Section II: Unaccompanied Permanent Change of Station Tours

Page 27 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

The percentage of servicemembers citing each of the specified reasons for
their family members not joining them at their current assignment are shown.
The most frequently cited reason was that the member was either legally
separated or divorced from his/ her spouse. The next most commonly cited set
of reasons involved various disruptions to the family?s activities, such as
the spouse?s career and the education of either spouse or children. The next
set of reasons involved ?permanently

unaccompanied? tours, such as overseas tours for which family members were
not command- sponsored, tours where being unaccompanied was a requirement of
the authorization or billet, and tours where the shipment of household goods
was not authorized with PCS orders. In 11 percent of the cases, family
members were expected to join the servicemember at a later date.

About 28 percent cited ?other? unspecified reasons. Those citing other
unspecified reasons were more likely to be in the lower enlisted grades (E4
and below) and were also more likely to report they were having trouble
making ends meet. Therefore, this category may be related to whether the
family believed it could afford to accompany the member on the move.

About 29 percent of the unaccompanied tours involved OCONUS assignments.
Those serving an unaccompanied OCONUS tour were more likely to indicate the
tour was designated as a permanently unaccompanied tour, while those in
unaccompanied CONUS tours were more likely to cite disruption of a family
member?s career or education, family would be joining them later, or ?other?
reason.

Briefing Section II: Unaccompanied Permanent Change of Station Tours

Page 28 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

Note: This analysis only includes personnel who were married and/ or had
dependent children. Source: GAO analysis of DOD?s 1999 Survey of Active Duty
Personnel.

Those serving unaccompanied tours tended to be less satisfied with the
overall military way of life, less satisfied with the types of assignments
received, and less satisfied with the amount of personal or family time
available.

Relationship Between Unaccompanied Tours and Satisfaction

Briefing Section II: Unaccompanied Permanent Change of Station Tours

Page 29 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

Note: This analysis only includes personnel who were married and/ or had
dependent children. Source: GAO analysis of DOD?s 1999 Survey of Active Duty
Personnel.

Those serving unaccompanied tours were less likely to indicate that their
spouses or significant others favored them staying in the military than
those on accompanied tours. Servicemembers who were not accompanied by their
families were also less likely to indicate that they would choose to stay in
the service and had a higher expectation of leaving the military before
becoming eligible to retire.

Relationship Between Unaccompanied Tours and Retention

Appendix I: Scope and Methodology Page 30 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

The data used in this briefing were derived from DOD?s 1999 Survey of Active
Duty Personnel. We worked with the Department to design this survey. It was
mailed in the fall of 1999 to a stratified, random sample of over 66,000
uniformed personnel. DOD provided the final survey data to us in late 2000.
Technical details about the survey are provided below.

We performed our work in April and June 2001 in accordance with generally
accepted government auditing standards.

DOD?s active duty survey is a recurring survey that, prior to the 1999
administration, was last administered in 1992. When the Department learned
that the Subcommittee on Military Personnel had asked us to administer a
separate survey to military personnel, the Acting Assistant Secretary of
Defense (Force Management Policy) offered to allow us to include questions
on the survey DOD was already planning to conduct. We worked with DOD staff
to refine the survey instrument and address additional content areas. The
survey was pretested and refined at Navy bases around Jacksonville, Florida;
Pope Air Force Base, Fayetteville, North Carolina; and the U. S. Marine base
at Quantico, Virginia. Time constraints prevented additional pretesting with
Army and Coast Guard personnel beyond that performed by DOD on an earlier
version of the survey.

The sample of 66,040 military members was drawn from a May 1999 population
of 1,419,269 active duty DOD and U. S. Coast Guard personnel who were below
the rank of admiral or general and had at least 6 months of service. The
sample was stratified on five variables: service, pay grade, gender,
location (inside or outside the continental United States), and marital
status. DOD survey experts used response rates from prior surveys to adjust
the sample for groups with differing expected rates of survey completion.
Also, the sample was designed to provide varying levels of precision for
numerous subgroups (e. g., + 3 percentage points for each service or pay
grade group and + 5 percentage points for senior officers in the Army).

As of January 4, 2000, DOD had received 37,119 surveys with at least some
questions answered. Some surveys were eliminated because they (1) had been
returned blank, (2) were duplicates, or (3) came from respondents who had
left active duty before the fielding period ended. The unweighted response
rate was 56.2 percent. After eliminating people who were Appendix I: Scope
and Methodology

Development of DOD?s Active Duty Survey

Sample Construction Survey Administration

Appendix I: Scope and Methodology Page 31 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

ineligible to participate in the survey, DOD computed a weighted response
rate of 51 percent. DOD used a contractor to administer the survey. We did
not test the contractor?s procedures or validate the data provided to us. We
did review DOD?s and its contractor?s quality control procedures for a
similar large survey.

Data were weighted to proportionally represent the target population. The
weights reflected (1) the probability of selection for that member, (2) a
nonresponse adjustment to minimize bias arising from differential response
rates among demographic subgroups, and (3) a poststratification factor for
September 1999- the month in which the questionnaire was first distributed.

In recent years, both military and civilian surveys have experienced
decreased response rates. Although weighting can adjust for the differing
sampling rates and response rates within the sampling cells, weighting
cannot adjust for possible differences between those who did and those who
did not respond to a survey. As with most surveys, there is an implicit
assumption that nonrespondents would have answered like respondents. There
is some risk of nonresponse bias, but it is not really feasible to test for
this bias. However, it should be recognized that the active duty survey is
the only source of DOD- wide information for many issues, and it is far more
reliable than anecdotal information or information generated by smaller,
nonrepresentative samples. Weighting

Page 32 GAO- 01- 841 Military Personnel

Appendix II: Comments From the Department of Defense

(350071)

Page 33

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