Relation of Officer First Assignment and Education Major to Retention.

The relationship to retention of two factors--initial duty assignment and precommission education major--was investigated for the Unrestricted Line Officers with the Surface Warfare designator. The five commission sources analyzed included two regular sources--the Naval Academy and the NROTC Scholarship Program--and three reserve sources--the Officer Candidate School and the NROTC College and Reserve Officer Candidate Programs. Generally, both the officer's first duty assignment and education major were associated with retention, across as well as within separate commission sources. Retention was found to be lowest in staff and supporting shore activities and highest in the type of ships (i.e., small combatant ships) in which officers probably experienced the most arduous conditions of deployment, but also probably have the best opportunity to achieve essential shipboard qualifications. Although retention was associated with assignment type, the absolute values of the retention percentages varied substantially across commission sources. Alternative allocation strategies should be developed to identify the relative mix of allocations from each commission source that maximizes retention. (Author)