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Steven Collins

D. Howard

ENGL-1302-18

October 29 2023

The military’s issue with retention

Introduction

“I’m sick of this shit!” was my response to my ship, the USS Wasp, getting the first of

two three-month extensions due to COVID and other logistical factors. The year 2020, was the

deciding factor on my choice to separate from the Navy once my contract was done. I was

stationed on the USS Wasp from 2017 to 2022, and my service experience was full of problems

and turmoil. Personally, I have almost been killed by naval aircraft more times than I can count.

I was treated unfairly by my “leadership” on the ship. The unfair treatment ranged from doing

ridiculous tasks such as mopping up a puddle on the outside of my ship after it just rained, to

stealing credit for my work to get a better leg up for promotions. These and many other reasons

contribute to why I did not reenlist, and I do not regret my decision even today. Based on my

experience, I know I am not alone in my choice in separating. This brings us to the topic of this

research, why is the military having an issue with retention. According to Mountain Tactical

Institute, the Navy had a reenlistment rate of 59.6% in 2021(Rob Shaul, 16 Feb. 2023). When

this is compared to other NATO countries, the US ranks at 55% overall retaining soldiers, which

is low because Turkey has a reenlistment rate of 95.6%. Clearly the US military has an issue

with reenlistment. Many people choose to leave the military and the military is noticing. I think

this is due to a mixture of poor mental health and a low incentive for reenlistment.
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Meme Analysis

The meme above was pulled directly from the meme page “Shit My LPO Says”. The

meme is in reference to work performance evaluations where “P” is the second lowest in

evaluation scores which directly affects your chance to rank up negatively effectively making it

impossible to make rank that cycle. This meme Facebook page is for the naval enlisted personnel

to post relatable memes on the daily life. This is a great place to gather insight on the daily life in
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the Navy. Most of the memes on this page are similar to the meme above to where in a sense, the

laughs are because the pain is relatable to others that are in the same situation. This works great

as a tool to illustrate the little things that have a big impact on the entirety of someone’s military

experience.

Literature Review-Section 1

Low mental health is one of the reasons contributing to low retention. According to an

article from the Army Times, the number one reason people get out is primarily due to separation

from family and their military service causes family issues (Davis Winkie, 22 Aug. 2022). While

this is true and obvious, upon further reading the Army Times article, you will notice that there is

no mention of unfair treatment or mental health issues. This is because the military really does

not want the public to know about the true state of low mental health and the true reasons why

soldiers choose to leave rather than continue serving, most likely for recruitment purposes.

According to surveys conducted from a non-military publisher, the reasons why people choose to

leave include poor leadership, different generational values, and low mental health (Bol Ring, 10

Sep 2022). This article brings to the table other issues that were absent from the Army Times

article.

To further back the claim of low mental health is a cause of low retention, another article

goes into more detail on the issues of mental health. Khalif covers suicides in the military,

specifically in the remote regions with bases such as Alaska. In his article he finds that therapists

for military personnel are worked hard and stretched thin, stating that many soldiers/sailors do

not get the mental health help they need in a timely manner (Ashraf Khalif, 10 Oct. 2022). It is

worth noting that military therapists are in the military as well, they understand the turmoil that
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military personnel face, but they say things such as “suck it up” or “quit being a bitch”. The

military has civilian therapists as well, but they do not understand the issues military personnel

face so even they can only do so much. This in turn leads to high suicide rates among the

military. Khalif also draws the connection that mental health in the military is slowly decreasing

as the years pass by.

Literature Review-Section 2

Another factor that leads to low retention in the military may be rooted in the low

incentive for re-enlistment. Looking at the enlistment bonus page on the Navy recruiting website,

we can see that the navy is offering upwards of $140,000 of enlistment bonus if one enlists

before December of 2023(United States Navy, Enlistment Bonus By Position). Keep in mind

“enlistment” is for civilians to go into the military. “Reenlistment” is current military personnel

extending their contract by “reenlisting”. There are bonuses attributed to reenlistment, but it is

not at the caliber that the Navy is paying for brand new sailors. For example, myself and others

in my job in the Navy were offered no more than $10000 to reenlist. We can see here that the

Navy is willing to pay brand new untrained people a six-figure bonus but are not willing to pay

over 10 grand for sailors reenlisting. The other issue for me and many others is the fact that we

enlisted for no bonus, as in we just enlisted, end of story, no bonus. This aggravated me and

many others when we first heard of these high enlist bonuses for untrained civilians.

Methodology Section-Interviews

In order to further our understanding of why the military has retention issues, I

interviewed 2 active-duty personnel and two veterans. The reason I asked 2 that are current
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servicemembers and 2 veterans was to see if anything has changed since the veterans and I

separated. These questions I will ask them should give some insight into the issue of low

retention in the US military. In these interviews there are terms and terminology that may not

make sense. There is an “Interview Lingo” section below the interviews, if there is a term that

you don’t understand check there for clarification.

First Active-Duty Interview

1. How long have you served so far?

I’m almost 2 years into my 1st contract.

2. Describe your military experience so far. Is it good or bad?

My experience so far is good yet angering at the same time. The new age of sensitive shit within

the Army has taken me by surprise as to how soft the Army has gotten from what my friends,

relatives and grandparents have told me. It was good for the chances to grow and experience

while doing combat arms, but angering as to how limited resources and training opportunity are

as well as the amount of remedial or dumb shit we do.

3. What are the biggest issues you face while serving?

The biggest issues I faced was trying to get my finances straight and having the time to do so and

have the people who are paper pushers actually do their jobs. The platoon I’m in would rather me

struggle to stay awake during a sit-down class after hours in the sun and struggle financially then

to allow me maybe a few hours to go handle personal forms and to get my finances and other

things that were promised to me fixed. Others here struggle to even get BAH and have to wait

months on months for the back pay because the S shops don’t know what they’re doing or

saying. Meanwhile they struggle to pay bills with their spouse while only making roughly
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$1500-$2200 a month Also the fact of if leadership is to recognize someone or a set of people,

recognize the right people. I got deployed and am underpaid, underappreciated and the battalion

is broke.

4. Are you going to reenlist? Why or why not?

Yes, I will reenlist unlike many of my coworkers. I am currently being forced to reclass as well

since my MOS (19D) is now retired by Big army. Why, because after being thrown to the sharks

and learning everything after 3 years on 1 contract. My 2nd contract can go a lot smoother, and I

can further myself for the good stuff the Army offers for the civilian world. Plus, as a personal

thing I feel as if I should be different than most and do a total of 6 years.

5. Why do you think people are separating?

People are not reenlisting cause either they don’t believe the Army is a good fit after their first

contract, they don’t get paid as much as the civilian world, they’re tired of the remedial bullshit

and or have very shitty leadership which gives everyone low morale. It gets to the point where

they don’t want any part of it. And then it’s not the life for some people and they only give 3

years to get the benefits and dip out.

6. What can the military do to increase reenlistment?

Increasing reenlistment, I can’t really give a good opinion about this since I haven’t seen

everything this world has yet to offer. But I think people would like it more if they could feel

more secure in their future and not just with a current low paying job and if everything wasn’t a

hoop to jump through to get anywhere or to increase their status. Leadership and morale play a

big role too. Ever since I got all new leadership. All of our morale has changed for the better.

Second Active-Duty Interview

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1. How long have you served so far?

I have served for 7 years.

2. Describe your military experience so far. Is it good or bad?

My service experience is not completely negative, a lot more downs than ups.

3. What are the biggest issues you face while serving?

The biggest issue I face is my chain of command with their lack of knowledge.

4. Are you going to reenlist? Why or why not?

No I will not reenlist, because my personal goals outweigh the current path that I am on.

5. Why do you think people are separating?

I think people separate because they feel they can do better and feel as if it is more worth it to

separate.

6. What can the military do to increase reenlistment?

The military can increase reenlistment by having a higher quality of life on the ship, set working

hours when you’re on shore or a ship, have equals in rank reflect actual work, and have better

bonuses for reenlistment.

First Veteran Interview

1. How long did you serve?

I served 7 years in the Army.

2. Describe your military experience. Was it good or bad?

My military experience was anything but good, from the bullshit and random tasks I was forced

to do, to being called a piece of shit for taking care of my mental health and physical health over

running missions.
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3. What were the biggest issues you faced during your service?

I think one of the biggest issues I faced is not having the support of my leadership when trying to

take care of my health. I constantly got belittled and ostracized for doing so which took a huge

toll on my mental health so much to the point where I attempted to take my own life in January

of 2021.

4. Why do you think people are separating?

I think people are separating from the Army for the same reason I did, the toll it takes on your

physical and mental health. The military and especially the leadership tell you to take care of

yourself, mind, and body, and when you do they ostracize and belittle you for it. They tell you

that you’re a worthless piece of shit and you start to really believe it. Not to mention, it’s all a

political game, and if you don’t play it according to their rules (dirty and backstabbing and

corrupt) you’re beaten down. They give new recruits (who aren’t trained, and most of them

won’t even make it through basic training) huge bonuses, where as those who reenlist are

scavenging for a penny more or less. Don’t even get me started on the governmental housing, the

barracks that they provide usually are very old and haven’t been updated, they experience. power

outages on a daily basis and usually have black mold, and to get anything fixed can sometimes

take years.

5. If you could do it all over again, would you?

Given the chance to do it all over again…. honestly I don’t know if I would or wouldn’t do it all

over again, on one hand I was couch hopping/homeless before the Army and I did meet my

fiancé through the army, and my schooling is paid for, but on the other hand my body is so

fucked up that I have to use a cane to walk at the age of 27 with constant knee and back pain,

I’ve had multiple TBIs (traumatic brain injuries) and the only way I can get even a small amount
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of pain relief is through the countless types of therapies that I’m in (chiropractor, physical

therapy, massage therapy, hydrotherapy, tens unit, alpha stem unit) and the countless

medications I’m on to control my blood pressure, anxiety, and depression, it really is a double

edged sword.

Second Veteran Interview

1. How long did you serve?

I served for 6 years.

2. Describe your military experience.

Was it good or bad? I had my good times and bad times while in the military. My first 3 years

were hectic due to me being treated unprofessionally by my higher chain of command. The best

times when I was in was meeting my best friends Steven and Jeff. They kept my head up during

rough times. If it wasn’t for them I don’t think I would've made it through my 6 years.

3. What were the biggest issues you faced during your service?

The biggest issues I faced while I was in the service was the lack of professionalism. I joined

thinking the military had amazing structure, clearly I was wrong. I did what my job entailed and

I never got recognition for it ever.

4. Why did you separate from the military?

The reason I chose to separate was because I met my wife. I was already deciding to separate

before she came into the picture but after I got married I knew it was time to start my journey

with her out of the military.

5. Why do you think people are separating?

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I believe people are separating because they are finally opening their eyes to how the system

treats you. No matter what you do, at the end of it all it is based on favoritism. I wasn’t promoted

until my 4th year in the military. But I think people are finally seeing the truth behind the

military.

6. What can the military do to increase reenlistment?

The number one thing the military can do is fix their version of professionalism and Respect.

Regardless of who you are, it doesn’t matter what rank you are because at the end of the day you

are still a person and every person deserves respect. Professional workspaces also coincide with

this. When you are treated unprofessional and disrespected no one wants to listen. So, my

choices stand here.

7. If you could do it all over again, would you?

If I never met my wife, and the factors were changed for the better then I would probably do it

again but in a different branch. I believe that experience helps with your choosing within the

military if you have a great experience then of course you want to keep going but if you feel like

your self-state would be better off in the civilian world then your decision changes on whether

you want to stay in or not.

Interview Lingo

The interviews I conducted used military terminology that the everyday person may not

know so this section will explain the common phrases that are used.

BAH- (Basic Allowance for Housing) if a service member qualifies for this, they receive a fixed

rate of pay from the military specifically for paying rent.

Backpay- The military paying back owed money to servicemembers.

S shop- Military personnel who oversee administrative duties for their peers in their workplace.
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MOS- (Military Occupational Specialty) or simply a servicemembers specific job.

Big Army- This lingo is used in reference to the very high ups in the Army who make the big

decisions on policy for the Army.

Chain of command- The order or superiority of your bosses, similar to shift manager, general

manager, branch owner, etc.

Findings

As we can see from the interviews conducted, all of them had an instance where they

were treated with a lack of care. In 3 out of the 4 interviews they speak of their chain of

command being unsupportive or unprofessional. We can also observe that all the interviews say

almost the same thing when it comes to why people are separating. They all in short agree that

people get out due to the mistreatment that service members receive. Each of the interviews that

were conducted offered a very good look into their service and the issues they faced or are

facing.

Observations/Implications

We can observe based on the interviews that some of the information coincides with the

articles that were researched. The article Khalif wrote covers the aspect of the increasing suicide

rates and the lack of facilities for mental health. Looking at the first veteran interview they

mentioned that they tried to take care of their mental health, but what is not in Khalifs article was

the mistreatment that this veteran received from their chain of command for trying to be mentally

healthy. In Bol’s article he goes over that leadership was a main issue in retention of soldiers. In

three of the interviews, they spoke of the mistreatment they received from leadership, validating
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the findings of Bol’s article. Most of the issues presented from the articles and interviews point

toward mental health and the treatment that causes mental health to be low. The other aspect of

the research was the low incentive for reenlistment. In 2 of the interviews, they spoke of

financial issues associated with their service. In one of the interviews, they talk about the

bonuses that the brand-new solders receive for signing up, which coincides with the navy

website that offers new people a lump sum of money to join the service.

Conclusion

With the information that was researched I urge people to reach out to anyone they know

in the service. This research points primarily to the low mental health that the military causes, so

reach out to your people and check up with them. For the people in the service, I urge you to

treat each other with respect and fairness. For the leadership specifically I urge you to fix the

issues of toxicity when it comes to the workplace. I also urge anyone in the service to not

demonize fixing your mental health, all too often are servicemembers are belittled for fixing their

health, change that culture, embrace it. For the military itself, they need to do a quality-of-life

overhaul across the board. They need to pay more money for reenlistment bonuses, stop

promoting toxic people into leadership positions, and fix the limited access to mental health

facilities.
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Works Cited

“Enlistment Bonuses by Position.” Es by Position | Navy.Com, www.navy.com/bonus.

Khalil, Ashraf. “U.S. Military Aims to Address Mental Health as Suicides Rise.” PBS,

Public Broadcasting Service, 10 Oct. 2022, www.pbs.org/newshour/health/as-suicides-rise-u-s-

military-seeks-to-address-mental-health.

Log into Facebook. Facebook. (n.d.). https://www.facebook.com/shitmylposays4oem

Ring, B., Bol RingBol Ring is Field Artillery Captain currently stationed in Saudi Arabia,

(2022, September 10). Scientific approach to solving army retention and recruiting problem -

self-determination theory and authentic leadership theory. | Small Wars Journal.

https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/scientific-approach-solving-army-retention-and-recruiting-

problem-self-determination#:~:text=Various%20factors%20contribute%20to%20the,improve

%20retention%20and%20recruiting%20numbers.

Shaul, Rob. “Air Force Leads All US Military Branches in Re-Enlistment Rates: Overall,

US Military Retention Is 2nd Worst in NATO.” Mountain Tactical Institute, 16 Feb. 2023,

mtntactical.com/knowledge/air-force-leads-all-us-military-branches-in-re-enlistment-rates-but-

overall-us-military-retention-is-2nd-worst-in-nato/.
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Winkie, Davis. “Unprecedented Survey: Why Do Soldiers Leave or Stay in the Army?”

Army Times, 22 Aug. 2022, www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2021/12/06/unprecedented-

survey-why-do-soldiers-leave-or-stay-in-the-army/