A newly released RAND study concludes that long work hours and demanding schedules, rather than the number of deployments, are responsible for fueling intentions not to remain in the military. Researchers say that members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines value their participation in real world missions, but that rising stress levels created by things like uncertainty over deployment dates, separation from family, feelings of not being prepared, and long hours can counter the positive benefit of “meaningful operations.” The study is called “How Deployments Affect Service Members.”
The emphasis on speed in the Pentagon’s newly unveiled slate of acquisition reforms may come with increased near-term cost increases, analysts say. But according to U.S. defense officials, the new weapons-buying construct provides the military with enough flexibility to prevent runaway budget overruns in major programs.
