ERIC Number: ED219576
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1981-Mar-31
Pages: 90
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
The Army Needs to Improve Individual Soldier Training in Its Units. Report to the Congress by the Comptroller General of the United States.
Comptroller General of the U.S., Washington, DC.
A study was conducted to determine whether unit level individual skill training is being provided to prepare Army enlisted personnel to perform critical job tasks within their military occupational specialty (MOS). The General Accounting Office reviewed the Army's skill training programs at 10 active units in the continental United States and five active units in Europe and administered questionnaires to more than 6,300 soldiers throughout the Army. Results showed that 54 percent of the noncommissioned officers believed only half or fewer of the soldiers they supervise were adequately trained for combat duty in their MOS. Factors impeding effective training were shortage of experienced trainers, high personnel turnover rates in operational units, and lack of functional training equipment and ammunition. It was recommended that the Army's management oversight system for training be strengthened by increased monitoring of programs and improved evaluative information. It was found that the Army has recently announced initiatives to improve individual skill training effectiveness, including assignment changes to make more trainers available, rotation policy changes, and an extended basic training program. (Appendixes include questionnaires and lists of units reviewed.) (YLB)
Descriptors: Armed Forces, Enlisted Personnel, Military Training, Outcomes of Education, Personnel Evaluation, Program Effectiveness, Program Evaluation, Surveys, Vocational Education
U.S. General Accounting Office, Document Handling and Information Services Facility, P.O. Box 6015, Gaithersburg, MD 20760 (First five free; thereafter $3.25 each, bound; $1.00 each, unbound; quantity discounts available).
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Comptroller General of the U.S., Washington, DC.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A