This paper examines the human resources functions of the United States Army, covering recruitment strategies, compensation policy, entry-level training, and career development programs. It explores how the Army attracts volunteers through advertising campaigns, school partnerships, ROTC programs, and enlistment incentives, while also addressing controversies such as criminal waivers and shifting bonus structures. The paper outlines the Army's three-part compensation model — cash, non-cash, and deferred — and describes how basic training transforms civilian recruits into cohesive military units. Academic partnerships, transferable college credits, and the Montgomery GI Bill are highlighted as key retention and development tools.
The US Army functions as the land-based branch of the US Armed Forces. It is the largest and oldest of the seven US uniformed services. The Army reports to the Department of Defense and is comprised of three elements: the active component, the regular Army; and two reserve components, the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve (US Army, 2012).
Both reserve components consist of part-time soldiers who train at least once a month. Battle assemblies conduct two to three weeks of annual training each year. Despite having multiple components, the Army carries out both functional and institutional goals. The functional Army includes numbered armies, corps, divisions, brigades, and battalions that perform full-spectrum operations worldwide (US Army, 2012).
According to the US Army, its primary mission is to fight and win the nation's wars by providing prompt, sustained land dominance across the full range of military operations in support of combatant commanders (2012). This encompasses the following goals:
Institutional Army organizations provide the infrastructure necessary to raise, train, equip, deploy, and ensure the readiness of all Army forces. The training base delivers military skills and high-quality education to every soldier — as well as to members of sister services and allied forces (US Army, 2012).
The US Army is an all-volunteer military with approximately 558,000 soldiers (Baldor, 2012). The Army's Human Resources Command (HRC) provides life-cycle career management for Army soldiers. Its stated mission is to advance unit readiness, help develop leadership, and sustain the well-being of soldiers, veterans, and their families. To make informed recruitment decisions, the HRC conducts thorough physical and psychological evaluations of each candidate, ensuring that all incoming soldiers possess the mental aptitude and physical endurance required to sustain potential combat. Criminal and background checks are also performed.
The Army must continuously recruit to ensure readiness in the event of a threat or emergency. According to the Department of Defense, the Army spends over $845 million on marketing and recruiting each year (Baldor, 2012). Recruiters must be creative in their approach to meeting annual enlistment goals of 80,000 or more. Families today tend to encourage college and vocational training over Army enlistment, so recruiters have become more visible in shopping malls, local schools, job fairs, and other places where young people gather.
Schools that receive federal funding are required by law to provide student names to Army recruiters. The federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 grants recruiters access to student information at schools that risk losing federal funding if they refuse (Malos, 2004). However, students may voluntarily opt out of sharing their personal data. Recruiters engage with young people to answer questions and correct any misunderstandings about Army service.
Recruitment efforts are frequently concentrated in school districts where post-high school opportunities for young people are less likely to include college. More affluent areas therefore tend to have less recruiter presence (Bedard & Newman, 1999). Many public and private high schools also offer Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) programs managed by military officers. The curriculum includes courses approved by the Department of the Army and teaches leadership skills applicable to both military and civilian life. Participants are required to wear a military uniform one day per week and often take part in local service projects. ROTC programs typically enroll between 100 and 150 students per year, though fewer than 10 percent go on to actually seek employment in the armed forces (Bedard & Newman, 1999).
Traditional advertising (radio, television, and direct mail) alongside new media (email, internet marketing, and social networks such as Facebook and Twitter) are primary recruitment tools. The "Army Strong" campaign targets young people aged 17 to 24 and highlights the advantages of an Army career. Advertised messages emphasize the mental, physical, and psychological strength gained through Army service, as well as the camaraderie shared among personnel. The US Army website is highly informative and interactive, even allowing visitors to experience a virtual Iraq deployment through numerous webcast videos (US Army, 2012).
It is estimated that the US spends close to $100 million per year to advertise and sponsor outreach events such as professional bull riding competitions, rock concerts, and NASCAR races — events that typically attract crowds of young people considered more receptive to Army recruitment messaging (Bedard & Newman, 1999).
Recruitment strategies have ranged from significant enlistment bonuses to college tuition stipends, waivers, and technology incentives. However, times have changed. In 2012, soldiers in only six occupational specialties received bonuses upon enlistment: interpreters and translators, divers, cryptologic linguists, medical laboratory specialists, and explosive ordnance disposal specialists. Bonuses in that period ranged from approximately $3,300 to $3,500, compared with the $16,000 to $18,000 bonuses the Army was paying in 2007–08. Re-enlistment bonuses for soldiers averaged approximately $7,500 (Baldor, 2012).
Where recruitment strategies offer some of the greatest long-term value is in their ability to prepare soldiers for professional and career-based civilian lives after their service is complete. For example, numerous academic partnerships exist between various branches of the Armed Forces and US colleges and universities (Briscoe, 2000). Soldiers are offered college-level instruction at bases around the world, including both associate and bachelor's degree programs. Academic credits are transferable across affiliated universities, and the Army currently covers approximately 75 percent of tuition costs.
In general, recruitment literature, messaging, and strategies do a good job of highlighting potential benefits: career interest and challenge, camaraderie, physical fitness, travel abroad, and other opportunities. Recruitment could be strengthened, however, by more thorough coverage of difficult topics that prospective enlistees genuinely want to know about — the transition from civilian to military life, ethical issues related to combat, measures in place to protect physical and psychological health (especially during wartime), and the legal obligations of enlistment.
"Aptitude testing, boot camp, and MOS training"
"Training psychology, discipline, and waiver controversies"
"Cash, non-cash, and deferred military pay components"
"GI Bill, education benefits, and veteran advantages"
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