Analysis of the Effect of Prior-Enlisted Service on Navy Officer Performance

This thesis compares commissioned officers who have prior-enlisted service with those who have no prior-enlisted service on the basis of selected measures of performance. The primary source of information is the Bowman-Mehay database, which is used to analyze the effects of prior service on promotions through lieutenant commander. The study also looks at the gender and ethnic background of officers with prior-enlisted service and the total naval force. Two measures of performance were examined for officers whose promotion board to lieutenant commander occurred between fiscal years 1985 and 1995: whether the officer received a Recommendation For Accelerated Promotion (RAP) and whether the officer was promoted to lieutenant commander. The results of the study show that prior-enlisted officers generally are not RAP'd as often as non-prior- enlisted officers but are promoted to lieutenant commander about equally. The results also suggest that the Navy lags in its attempt to have an officer corps that resembles the ethnic and gender composition of the enlisted force. This is noteworthy, since almost one-third of minority and female officers tend to come from the enlisted ranks. Several recommendations are offered for future research regarding prior-enlisted officers in the Navy.Naval Postgraduate School Monterey CA is the author of 'Analysis of the Effect of Prior-Enlisted Service on Navy Officer Performance', published 1998 under ISBN 9781423559542 and ISBN 1423559541.