MODERN VOLUNTEER ARMY The Modern Volunteer Army Program: The Benning Experiment, 1970-1972 THE DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY MODERN VOLUNTEER ARMY THE MODERN VOLUNTEER ARMY PROGRAM: THE BENNING EXPERIMENT, 1970-1972 by Brigadier General Willard Latham DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C. 2010 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 73-600334 First Printed 1974-CMH Pub 90-2 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. Foreword The expiration of authority to draft young men for military service in mid-1973 placed the United States Army on a volunteer footing for the first time since 1948. In preparation for this challenge, the Army had initiated the Modern Volunteer Army Program two and a half years earlier to attract and increase the enlistment of able men and women, raise the quality of Army life, and improve professionalism throughout the rank and file. An important part of the program was Project VOLAR, a field experiment conducted at selected Army installations from 1970 to 1972 to develop methods and procedures for achieving the program's objectives. The methods and procedures that survived this extensive testing and critical evaluation are now being applied Army-wide with significant benefit as the Army makes its transition to a volunteer force. In the continuing task of maintaining and improving a thoroughly professional, highly motivated volunteer force, the Army stands to profit from knowledge of the VOLAR experiment, its failures as well as its successes. To record the experience, the Army has prepared a series of monographs, each an objective and comprehensive account of a particu lar phase of the experiment, and each prepared by a senior officer who played an important VOLAR role. These studies should contribute to the historical record of the Army and provide the American public with a performance report on an institution it has so long and so well supported. Brigadier General Willard Latham is eminently qualified to write the account of the VOLAR service school experiment at Fort Benning, Georgia. Stationed there from 1 January 1971 to 30 June 1972, he first commanded the 197th Infantry Brigade, and later served as Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander of the U.S. Army Infantry Center. Under his command, the 197th Infantry Brigade carried out an intensive per sonnel procurement program with such success that it became the first Regular Army brigade in recent history to be fully manned by volunteers. In earlier assignments, General Latham during the Korean War served as a platoon leader in the 8th Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Divi sion. He also has been a company commander in the 31st Infantry Division and 2d Armored Division, and has commanded battalions of the Berlin Brigade, the 1s t Infantry Division, and the 9th Infantry Divi sion in Vietnam. At present, General Latham is the Assistant Division Commander of the 3d Infantry Division in Germany. VERNE L. BOWERS Washington, D.C. Major General, USA 20 December 1973 The Adjutant General Ul Preface This is the story of the U.S. Army Infantry Center's participation in Project VOLAR, the field experiment undertaken at selected Army posts between January 1, 1971, and June 30, 1972, to develop, test, evaluate, and refine new concepts and initiatives in support of Modern Volunteer Army (MVA ) Program goals of reduced reliance upon the draft, increased professionalism, enhancement of Army life, and the development of a modern personnel accession system. Unfortunately, the experiment to create an environment conducive to raising a volunteer Army was misunderstood; in the minds of many, the term "VOLAR" conjured up images of undisciplined, unkempt, long haired soldiers riding motorcycles emblazoned with peace symbols and swilling beer in the barracks. Obviously these images did not mirror the MVA concept, which stresses the maintenance of military order, dis cipline, and mission capability. Neither did they typify the Infantry Center experience at Fort Benning, where VOLAR became a vehicle for progress, measured in terms of significant improvements in troop morale and discipline and military bearing and appearance and also in terms of high recruiting and re-enlistment goals that were repeatedly exceeded. The principal elements in the Fort Benning Plan for conducting the VOLAR experiment were improvements in living and working con ditions and increased job satisfaction on the part of the individual soldier. An evaluation process that used the services of the Human Re sources Research Organization provided continuous monitoring of the actual implementation of the Benning Plan and served as a vital control mechanism. Scientifically conducted objective surveys of troop attitudes and reactions were fundamental in determining whether or not the plan was on target, what was succeeding and what was not, and what the soldiers, NCO's, and officers thought about each part of the program. The VOLAR experiment brought a number of significant changes to Fort Benning. Over 70 percent of first-term re-enlistees stated that the experiment had influenced them to stay in the Army. The rating of Fort Benning by first-term soldiers as "one of the best Army posts" to which they had ever been assigned increased by 21 percent. Soldiers re enlisting for their current duty assignments increased from 55.7 percent to 72.2 percent. Absent without leave rates dropped from twenty-five to fourteen per thousand. Furthermore, over 3,100 young men were v recruited by the 197th Infantry Brigade in a sixteen-month period, making this unit the first all-volunteer brigade in the Army. In the preparation of this account I am deeply indebted to Lieuten ant Colonel Robert W. Faulkender and Captain Daniel F. Smith. My thanks also go to John W. Gause, who has kindly read and commented on these pages. Washington, D.C. WILLARD LATHAM Brigadier General, U.S. Army VI Contents Chapter Page I. ANTICIPATING THE NEED 3 Project Volunteer . . . . . 3 Project PROVIDE . . . . 4 Special AssistantJor the Modern Volunteer Army 8 II. DEVELOPING THE REQUIREMENT II The Scene . .. . . 11 Control and Evaluation 14 Target Areas . . . . 16 The Measure oj Success 18 Evaluation Techniques . 23 Initial Changes . . . . 25 SAMVA and the Benning Plan 27 III. EXECUTION 31 Overcoming Obstacles . 32 Publicity. . . . . . 33 Personal D~velopment . 37 197th InJantry Brigade 43 Mechanical Problems. 45 Change Is Progress . . 48 Improved Medical Care 51 Two Dilemmas . . . 53 Settling Down 55 IV. EXPANSION AND REVISION 57 Educational Projects . . . . . 58 Modern Educational Techniques . 59 Working Conditions . . . . 66 Fiscal rear 72 Benning Plan 67 Unit-oj-Choice Recruiting . . 71 Civic Adventures. . . . . . 77 Fiscal rear 73 Benning Plan 78 vii Chapter Page V. MORE THAN THE SUM OF THE PARTS 81 Methodology . . . . 81 Progress in Perspective 82 Trends . . . . . 84 Effect on Discipline 85 Results oj Analysis 87 Interpreting the Results 89 Specific Findings. . 90 General Conclusions 92 Delayed Successes . 98 VI. THE OVERVIEW 102 Verification oj Success . 102 Lessons Learned . . 104 Views oj the Future 105 Appendixes A. PRQPOSED ACTIONS OF BENNING PLAN, NO- VEMBER 1970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 107 1. Actions jor Which Immediate Implementation Has Been Directed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 2. Actions Considered jor Implementation in Immediate Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 3. Actions Which Require Further Study, Additional Per- sonnel, or Relief From Restrictions . . . . . 115 4. Actions Requiring Additional Resources . . . . . 117 B. KEY EVENTS OF PROJECT VOLAR, 1970-1972 119 C. ORGANIZATION AND MANNING. . . . . . . 120 1. Principal Command and Staff During the M V A Experi- ment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 2. The Injantry Center ... . . . . . . . . . 121 D. A CONUS COMMAND IN THE SEVENTIES. 122 General 122 The Challenge . 123 The Problem 124 Corrective Action 125 Subordinate Units . 129 The Staff . . . . 129 Control: Organization and Evaluation 131 Areas oj Special Emphasis. . . . . 133 Results. . . . . . . . . . . . 136 Creating a Successful Command Environment. 137 Vlll