The cost of a military person-year : a method for computing savings from force reductions / Carl J. Dahlman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dahlman, Carl J., 1950-

Contributor:

National Defense Research Institute (U.S.)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States--Armed Forces--Pay, allowances, etc.

United States.

Armed Forces.

Physical Description:

xx, 131 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Santa Monica, CA : RAND Corporation, 2007.

Summary:

The Department of Defense strives to only use military personnel for military-essential tasks and has consistently recommended the civilianization of ever-more military functions and positions. This guidance also stems from the belief that military personnel cost more than comparable civilians. As a policy, civilianization can only be properly applied when it is an integral element of a broader personnel-management strategy. This work presents a new method of estimating the cost of a military person-year that focuses on the actual cost of the retirement benefits that the federal government must provide to military personal. It provides a better foundation for the development of a broad, force-shaping strategy than previously available measures that focused only on annual retirement-fund accural costs. A major implication of this alternative calculus is that truly effective force management-using strategic human-resources principles to identify the proper mix of age and experience in the personnel inventory-requires an increased focus on the cost of personnel.

This product is part of the RAND Corporation monograph series. RAND monographs present major research findings that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND monographs undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.

Contents:

Chapter 2 Personnel Costs and DoD-Regulated Conversion Rates 5

Estimating the Cost of Military Personnel Using the DoD-Mandated Calculus 5

DoD-Mandated Cost Factors 13

Chapter 3 The Cost of Deferred Compensation 19

The Principle and Practice of Accrual Funding 19

Weighting Normal Cost with Retirement Probabilities 31

Conclusion and Implications 45

Chapter 4 Calculating the Correct Cost of Eliminating a Military Person-Year 47

Recomputing the Total Cost of Postretirement Benefits 47

A Simple Computational Example 49

The Full Economic Cost of a Military Person-Year 54

Chapter 5 Applying the Calculus 73

Policy and the Military-Civilian Balance in DoD 73

Examples of Personnel Constraints Affecting Civilianization 81

The Spoils and Their Division 87

The Practice of Drawdowns 99

Chapter 6 Final Issues, Conclusions, and Recommendations 107

Military Versus Civilian: A Hypothetical Cost Comparison 107

Trust Fund Accrual Versus Cost Accounting 111

On the Equity and Efficiency of the Military Compensation System 120

Appendix Grades and Titles for Military Officers and Enlisted Personnel 127.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 129-131).

ISBN:

9780833041517

0833041517

OCLC:

153773537