Military Human Resources
Westat has significant experience in studies that support the military's human resource needs—particularly in the areas of
personnel recruitment and retention, quality of life, and programs for military members and their families. The results of
these studies are used to shape many of the human resources policies and practices of the military services.
- Westat is a prime contractor for a task order contract supporting the U.S. Army Research Institute for the
Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI). We will conduct studies and surveys of soldiers and family
members and analyze data on the effectiveness of new Army staffing, leadership, and training policies.
- As part of a team, Westat participated in the Army Recruiting Market Segmentation Study, which
included a CATI survey designed to identify and analyze key segments of the military-recruitment-eligible population.
Our staff also contributed to a study of Army First-Term Enlisted Attrition in which in-person surveys
were administered to young soldiers several times in their early careers to discover reasons for leaving the military.
- Between 1990 and 1999 Westat conducted the Youth Attitude Tracking Study (YATS) for the U.S.
Department of Defense. The 30-minute survey asked youth about their future plans and aspirations, as well as their
awareness of military enlistment incentives and advertising. The major YATS products included a Topline
Memorandum that summarized survey findings and a Propensity Report that comprehensively
described the youth recruiting marketplace.
- Westat provides statistical services and analytic support for the Defense Manpower Data Center
survey program, including the 1999 Active Duty Surveys, the 2000 Reserve Component
Surveys, and the 2000 Workplace & Gender Relations Survey, among others.
These surveys, conducted periodically, ask military members and their spouses to report on their military experiences,
civilian work, family lives, and specific aspects of military life. We prepare the following:
- Overview reports;
- Special topic reports;
- Data tabulations for these surveys; and
- Special support for congressional testimony.
- We have contributed to other important military personnel issues by providing research design, data collection, and
analysis for a study of attitudes toward Gender Integration in Basic Entry Training among Army service
members and soldiers in training. Westat has also provided research support to the Congressional Commission on
Military Training and Gender-Related Issues in its review of the military services' basic training
policies on gender integration and their policies on cross-gender relationships
among military personnel.
- Westat redesigned the National Survey of Veterans for the VA to meet the VA's informational needs
in responding to its policy, planning, and budgetary challenges. We then conducted the first comprehensive
survey of veterans since 1992, providing VA with a portrait of the veteran population nationwide. An
additional focus of the survey was capturing information for traditionally underrepresented veteran
populations, such as women, the homeless, and the institutionalized.
- For the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Biennial Review of Defense Agencies and Field
Activities is a congressionally mandated evaluation of the performance of more than 25 defense agencies and
DOD field activities.
The biennial review is the only DOD-wide assessment of organizational performance using standard customer
satisfaction methods. In the 2003-04 review, Westat surveyed more than 12,000 government
customers of the defense agencies and DOD field activities, with responses organized according to more than
65 unique lines of business across these organizations. Results are reported to interested
parties, such as:
- The Secretary of Defense;
- Heads of all military departments;
- All defense agencies and DOD field activities; and
- Congress.
For more information about the Military Human Resources Research Area,
please send us a message.
