Date of Award
2002
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Programs for Higher Education
Advisor
Anne E. Mulder
Committee Member
Stephen G. McLeod
Committee Member
John A. Morgan Jr.
Keywords
Army, Army Recruiting Course, battalion, Brigade Commander, challenges, communication, course evaluation, executive summary, face-to-face training, leadership, national security, parents, performance standards, recruiter satisfaction, recruiters, recruiting, recruiting quotas, sales training, seminars, survey instrument, training, training evaluation, U.S. Army, youth, youth engagement
Abstract
Despite the U.S. Army's recent success in recruiting, recruiters have difficulties in communicating with and attracting today's youth to Army service. Army officials reiterate that complacency about recent recruiting figures is misguided, and that, without the Army consistently meeting recruitment quotas, national security could be unduly threatened. The purposes of this study were to evaluate Army recruiters' satisfaction with their basic training course and its application to performance standards, to evaluate challenges recruiters face in attracting today's youth by development and administration of a survey instrument, and to report recommendations for improving the training course and remedying recruiters' difficulties in encountering today's youth. Twenty-seven procedures were implemented to answer seven research questions:
1. What is the level of U.S. Army recruiters' satisfaction with the basic training course?
2. What is the level of U.S. Army recruiters' performance in fulfilling the eight mandated basic standards?
3. What is the level of U.S. Army recruiters' satisfaction with application of training to the mandated basic performance standards and related issues?
4. What changes can be recommended to improve recruiters' satisfaction with the training program and application to the basic performance standards?
5. What are the valid content and appropriate format for development of an instrument to identify and measure recruiters' challenges in encountering today's youth?
6. What is the level of difficulty recruiters have in encountering today's youth?
7. What steps can be recommended in the form of an Executive Summary to the Brigade Commander of the Second Recruiting Brigade to meet recruiters' challenges in encountering and attracting today's youth?
For Research Questions 1-4, ex post facto research reported data collected from the researcher-designed Inventory of Recruiter Satisfactions with Training (IRST) with recruiters at the Montgomery, AL, Recruiting Battalion.
For Research Question 5, an instrument was developed to identify and measure recruiters' difficulties in encountering today's youth, the Inventory of Recruiters' Challenges in Encountering Today's Youth (IRC). For Research Questions 6 and 7, this instrument was administered to a representative sample at the Montgomery battalion.
Results led to the following conclusions for the research questions:
1. Recruiters were dissatisfied with 5 of 10 elements of Army training.
2. Almost half reported fulfilling basic performance standards sometimes or hardly ever.
3. For 7 of 15 elements, recruiters reported low satisfaction with application of training to performance.
4. To improve training, recruiters recommended face-to-face training, handling objections/rejections, and sales training/closing the sale.
5. A valid and appropriate instrument for measuring recruiters' challenges encountering today's youth can be designed, as demonstrated by the IRC.
6. For 12 of 15 elements, the highest percentages of recruiters reported encounters with youth somewhat difficult.
7. To meet the challenges in encountering youth, recruiters recommended training in leadership and dealing with parents; seminars, roundtables, and formal classes; attending rock concerts and sporting events; volunteering at youth activities; and exposure to youth radio and television.
Six major recommendations were made. First was review of the Executive Summary by the Brigade Commander, with the full report available to him, and authorization of design and implementation of formalized training at recruiting stations. Second was design and implementation of recruiter training seminars by battalion master trainers; such seminars would include both sales strategies and methods for better encountering today's young people. Third was publication of study results in Army journals. Fourth was dissemination of study results to other brigades and training school headquarters. Fifth was design of courses that would supplement the basic Army Recruiting Course. Sixth was administration of the Inventory of Recruiter Satisfaction With Training and the Inventory of Recruiters' Challenges in Encountering Today's Youth to matched and larger samples in the other four brigades nationwide.