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Military Compensation

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Developing and offering the appropriate military compensation packages—including wages, health care, reenlistment bonuses, retirement, leave, dependent benefits, and survivor benefits—is necessary to attract and retain active duty and reserve personnel with essential skills. RAND has conducted extensive research to advise policymakers on developing compensation options to attract and retain a military workforce capable of meeting a nation's strategic goals.

Report
Modeling Career Enlisted Aviator Retention in the U.S. Air Force
The career trajectories and retention profiles of certain U.S. Air Force career enlisted aviators (CEAs) vary across the different Air Force Specialty Codes. Is there a model that would estimate CEA retention?
Aug 5, 2020
Report
Setting the Level and Annual Adjustment of Military Pay
Every four years, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) commissions a review of the military compensation system. How has military pay compared with civilian pay since the 1990s?
Dec 17, 2020

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Multimedia
Addressing the Recruiting Crisis in the Armed Services
Testimony presented before the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation on May 11, 2023.
May 11, 2023
Testimony
Addressing the Recruiting Crisis in the Armed Services
The U.S. military services struggled to meet their recruiting goals in fiscal year 2022, and the Army, Air Force, and Navy are on track for another tough year. If this problem persists, it could hurt operational effectiveness. What might be done to address this recruiting crisis?
May 11, 2023
Report
Supporting the U.S. Space Force Single-Component Structure: Impediments for Members Transitioning Between Full-Time and Part-Time Participation
U.S. Space Force leadership envisions a service in which Guardians transition easily between full- and part-time service. Five impediments discussed in this report make it unnecessarily difficult to make these transitions between types of service.
May 1, 2023
Report
Assessing the Implications of Policy Options for the Military Personnel Budget: An Analytic Framework for Evaluating Costs and Trade-Offs
A new tool simulates how various Department of the Air Force personnel policy changes could affect military spending. The tool lets users view cost variances and trade-offs when adjusting such factors as personnel count, rank, and experience levels.
Jan 17, 2023
Report
Evaluation of Flexible Spending Accounts for Active-Duty Service Members
This report presents an analysis of the implications of flexible spending accounts for active-duty service members and their families that would allow pre-tax payment of dependent care expenses, insurance premiums, and out-of-pocket medical expenses.
Dec 12, 2022
Research Brief
Fit for Duty: Alternative Approaches for Determining Department of Defense Disability Compensation
RAND researchers evaluated four hypothetical alternative U.S. Department of Defense disability compensation approaches that would support a simpler disability evaluation process by reducing reliance on disability ratings.
Feb 9, 2022
Report
Payment of the Full Rate of Special and Incentive Pays to Members of the Reserve Components
In this report, the authors consider the feasibility and advisability of paying eligible part-time members of the reserve component the same full monthly rate of special and incentive pays that full-time active component members receive.
Feb 9, 2022
Report
Recouping Separation Pay from U.S. Service Members and Veterans Who Later Receive Veterans Affairs Disability Compensation
The authors study how many service members and veterans experience recoupment -- or withholding -- of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs compensation due to receipt of military separation pay and how much more money they would receive but for recoupment.
Feb 7, 2022
Report
U.S. Department of Defense Disability Compensation Under a Fitness-for-Duty Evaluation Approach
In this report, the authors evaluate four hypothetical alternative U.S. Department of Defense disability compensation approaches that would support a simpler disability evaluation process by reducing reliance on disability ratings.
Jan 28, 2022
Report
Increasing Efficiency and Incentives for Performance in the Army's Selective Reenlistment Bonus (SRB) Program
This report documents research and analysis whose purpose was to help the Army determine how to best increase incentives for higher performance among enlisted members and to more efficiently achieve Army retention objectives.
Oct 5, 2021
Report
Evolution of Department of Defense Disability Evaluation and Management of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury: Overview of Policy Changes, 2001–2018
The authors review major policy changes to the military's disability evaluation system between 2001 and 2018 with a particular focus on changes to policies related to posttraumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.
May 10, 2021
Research Brief
Post 9/11 Trends in Medical Separation and Separation for Service Members with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury
Trends in military medical discharges and disability ratings can help the U.S. Department of Defense set goals for diagnosing, treating, and evaluating service members with posttraumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury.
May 10, 2021
Report
Trends in Department of Defense Disability Evaluation System Ratings and Awards for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury, 2002–2017
The authors conduct an empirical analysis of trends in diagnosis, treatment, and disability evaluation for posttraumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury among military service members between 2002 and 2017.
May 10, 2021
Report
Department of the Air Force Civilian Compensation and Benefits: How Five Mission Critical and Hard-to-Fill Occupations Compare to the Private Sector and Key Federal Agencies
The authors examine U.S. Air Force civilian compensation for hard-to-fill and mission critical occupations, comparing it with other federal agencies and the private sector and providing recommendations for recruiting and retaining civilian talent.
Feb 10, 2021
Report
Cost-Benefit Analysis of Special and Incentive Pays for Career Enlisted Aviators
The authors develop a capability to calculate the efficient amount of special and incentive pays for Air Force career enlisted aviators (CEAs). They also estimate the trade-offs between retaining CEAs and increasing accessions for a given force size.
Jan 7, 2021
Report
Analysis of a Time-in-Grade Pay Table for Military Personnel and Policy Alternatives
In support of the Thirteenth Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation, the authors of this report assess the advantages and drawbacks of a using a table based on time in grade, rather than time in service, to set military pay.
Dec 17, 2020
Report
An Updated Look at Military and Civilian Pay Levels and Recruit Quality
Comparing military pay with civilian pay, the authors find that military pay in 2017 was above the 70th percentile of civilian pay. It was at the 85th percentile for enlisted personnel and the 77th percentile for officers.
Jul 30, 2020
Report
General and Flag Officer Costs: Annual Cost Estimates for General and Flag Officers and Supporting Personnel
Researchers estimate average annual total costs of typical general and flag officers (G/FOs) as well as the annual total costs of specific G/FO positions in support of the Secretary of Defense's congressional reporting requirement.
Jan 23, 2020

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RAND Topic:
Military Compensation

Topic Synonyms:
Military Pay

Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Beth J. Asch

Senior Economist

Beth Asch is a senior economist at the RAND Corporation. Her areas of study include labor economics and defense manpower. She has led numerous studies on compensation design in the military and in the federal civil service, on the workforce implications of state and local pension reform, and on…
Jennie W. Wenger

Director, Economics, Sociology, and Statistics Department

Jennie W. Wenger (she/her) is director of the Economics, Sociology, and Statistics Department and a senior economist at the RAND Corporation, where she studies education and training, military compensation, and recruiting. Over the last 15 years, she has been the principal investigator of a…

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