Resources Required to Meet the U.S. Army Reserves Enlisted Recruiting Requirements Under Alternative Recruiting Goals, Conditions, and Eligibility Policies

This report presents research intended to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of recruiting resource allocation and enlistment eligibility policies. The Reserve Recruiting Resource Model (RRRM) optimizes the recruiting resource levels and mix needed to achieve future U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) recruiting goals under changing enlisted accession requirements and recruiting environments (as characterized by present and expected future economic conditions) and alternative eligibility policies for potential recruits, as well as allowing comparison of alternative courses of action. As discussed in the report on the Recruiting Resource Model for the active component (Knapp et al., 2018), the U.S. Army spent on average $1.6 billion annually in 2020 dollars on recruiting resources (including recruiter compensation) from fiscal year (FY) 2001 to FY 2014, and nearly $2.0 billion annually in FY 2008 and FY 2009. Cost reflects both the recruiting environment and the accession mission. The Army has several levers at its disposal to try and meet its recruiting mission, with resources jointly used for both Regular Army (RA) and USAR accessions. These recruiting resources, such as recruiters, enlistment bonuses, and advertising, differ in their cost per additional recruit produced and the lead time necessary to change individual resourcing levels (with enlistment bonuses generally the fastest and changes in recruiter numbers generally the slowest). The Army can also modify recruit eligibility policies to help it achieve its accession requirement within available resources. It has, at times, granted more enlistment waivers, taken more soldiers with prior military service, and recruited more persons without traditional high school diplomas or who score below the fiftieth percentile on the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT), the national average for the U.S. youth population.