Re-engineering military recruitment

Signal, Feb 2000

Facing its most severe recruitment and retention challenges in the volunteer military's history, the U.S. Department of Defense has retained the services of Andersen Consulting, Washington, D.C., to evaluate a set of key strategic initiatives intended to re-engineer the military's recruiting program.

Under the $1.4 million three-year contract, Andersen will assess current strategies using the Internet, advanced information technology and best practices. The objectives are to identify and create new ways to reach more potential recruits, to improve recruiter efficiency and to reduce recruit attrition rates. Initially the firm will monitor and evaluate specific pilot projects that can be replicated in all branches of the military services. Among the new marketing avenues and programs to be tested up front are the establishment of virtual recruiting offices and a civilian telemarketing program to encourage young people to enlist. The program is being piloted by the U.S. Navy Recruiting Command, Millington, Tennessee. Andersen will also test the feasibility of implementing remote enlistment processing using several alternative methods for contracting out enlistment physical examinations and aptitude testing. The remote process would eliminate one trip to regional military entrance processing stations. In a parallel effort to decrease costs, the company will assess the viability of integrating an automated fingerprinting program into the military entrance process. The fingerprinting program would help screen out applicants with criminal backgrounds, thereby reducing the number of recruits likely to become disciplinary problems or national security risks.