Utilization of the Army Reserve's Retention and Transition Force

In 1998 the Office of the Chief Army Reserve formed a new staff agency the Retention and Transition Division (OCAR-RTD) collocated with the U.S. Army Reserve Command (USARC) at Fort McPherson GA. The objective of OCAR-RTD was to curb high attrition rates in the Selected Reserve which were becoming a...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Polender, Westley J.
Other Authors: ARMY WAR COLL CARLISLE BARRACKS PA
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 2006
Subjects:
Personnel Management and Labor Relations
Military Forces and Organizations
*MILITARY RESERVES
*ARMY PERSONNEL
*ATTRITION
HIGH RATE
TRANSITIONS
ARMY OPERATIONS
PERSONNEL RETENTION
Fort McPherson
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA449822
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA449822
Description
Summary:In 1998 the Office of the Chief Army Reserve formed a new staff agency the Retention and Transition Division (OCAR-RTD) collocated with the U.S. Army Reserve Command (USARC) at Fort McPherson GA. The objective of OCAR-RTD was to curb high attrition rates in the Selected Reserve which were becoming a serious threat to end-strength. The means to achieve this end were provided in the fielding of a new 79V MOS (Retention and Transition NCO) in Fiscal Years 2001-2003. This enormous investment in full-time staffing and money achieved its objective to reduce annual attrition by 10% over five years. The new 79V force has also been successful in achieving several accession missions that were to varying degrees and at varying times shifted between Recruiting Command Human Resources Command and OCAR-RTD. The original vision of the 79V Soldier as an honest broker serving the changing needs of Army Reserve Soldiers in both the Selected Reserve and the Individual Ready Reserve may however have been compromised by the attachment of accession missions. These missions may encourage a "recruiter" numbers-based orientation rather than a "career counselor" Soldier-based orientation. This project describes the development of the 79V Retention and Transition Force using Bruce Tuckman's (Forming Storming Norming Performing) model of team development. Using statistical data interviews of key leaders and surveys of retention and transition NCOs in the field I will compare the original vision of the 79V Program with what has evolved today. I conclude with recommendations for the future.

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