A Supply Function of First-Term Re-Enlistees to the Air Force

This paper examines several aspects of the training and retention of Air Force electronic specialists. The major goal of the study is to investigate the responsiveness of the re-enlistment rate to changes in Air Force remuneration. The study is based on data obtained from the Personnel Research Laboratory at Lackland Air Force Base. Both biographical and earnings information were available for a group of 505 electronic specialists who left the Air Force in 1962 after their first tour of duty and who reported their civilian earnings in 1964. Biographical data were also obtained for a control group of 393 electronic specialists who chose to re-enlist in 1962 after their first tour of duty. For this sample of airmen, the re-enlistment rate is very sensitive to differences between civilian and Air Force earnings opportunities. Our results imply, for example, that if the initial re-enlistment rate were 50 percent and if Air Force remuneration were increased by $1,000 per year, then the re-enlistment rate would rise to about 70 percent.